What Happens In Paris
by JessieWills
Summary: Kate's married Josh and Castle's left to search for a new muse and a new start. What happens when they meet again two years later in Paris with things to tell each other? Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, however disappointing that is.
1. Chapter 1

**Right I've decided to start another story due to my extreme boredom and my love of everything Caskett! The start might put some of you off but I promise lots of Caskett coming up in the future. Reviews are love and I appreciate every comment made, positive or negative. I will probably update this one slower than the others but I will try to do longer chapters! **

**Prologue **

**July**

"Wow, congratulations" he mumbled as she stood there staring at him, her hand behind her back hiding the ring she was not yet prepared to show. She couldn't get over it herself, that she was going to be married to Josh and most of all she couldn't get over the fact she'd said yes. "I don't know what to say" he whispered, his heart breaking as he stared at her desperately forcing a smile onto his face.

"Congratulations is enough" she mumbled desperately wanting to have him hug her and tell her it was the right decision, that he was pleased for her. She didn't know why she so desperately needed his blessing but it felt right to want it after all these years of working together, it felt right for him to say that he was happy for her. "We're getting married in September, you will come won't you?" she asked causing him to sigh.

"If you want me there" he whispered causing her to grab hold of his hand, shocking them both slightly.

"Of course I want you there Rick, your my best friend, there's no one else I'd want more at my wedding than you" she declared causing him to nod as she sighed. "It's only going to be a small thing, just friends and family" she added, not knowing why she was going into so much detail about the wedding her and Josh had managed to plan in one night. Neither of them wanted a large ceremony, they just wanted a small event with the people they loved most where they could celebrate their own love. "Alexis and your mother are invited to".

"I'll tell them that" he whispered as she sighed, slipping her hand away from his. "Congratulations again Kate" he declared before walking awards the precinct lift, shock covering his face completely. Kate was getting married to Josh and it seemed like she was completely set on the idea. She had everything planned which didn't surprise him when it came to Kate. Hitting the button, he didn't notice that she was still watching him from further down the corridor, her fingers fiddling with the engagement ring on her finger. She still hadn't gotten used to it and the feel of it on her ring finger felt strange and she often found herself wanting to take it off from the moment he'd put it on her finger the night before. She loved Josh, she knew that and he was good for her, he understood how much her work meant to her and supported her through everything but yet she felt like something was missing. She just hoped marriage would fill that hole in her heart. Watching as the lift doors opened and Rick stepped in, she bit her lip as he turned and faced her, a small smile on his face as she smiled back before looking down at her ring and sighing. Why couldn't she just be happy about it like any other woman?

XOXOXO

**September**

Staring at her as she danced on the floor with her husband, he sighed taking another sip of the wine he ordered himself, his daughter and mother smiling and commenting on everything the couple did like they'd done the whole day. The ceremony had been small just like Kate had described to him but he kept thinking about how certain details weren't like Kate, how the flowers weren't her favourite and how the song for their first dance was one of the songs she'd once told him she hated the most. Hearing the claps, he looked up to see more people walking onto the dance floor as the bride and groom separated, Kate quickly walking towards him, a smile on her face.

"Rick dance with me" she whispered as he stared at her, watching as she held his hand out to her. He had to dance with her however much it hurt, today was about her, it was her big day and he wasn't going to deny her anything. Taking her hand, he slowly led her onto the floor as they got themselves into a dance hold in silence. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

"Just about how beautiful you look Kate" he announced, deciding that he had to say something about how breath taking she looked dressed in a simple long white dress with her hair pinned back, curls delicately framing her face. She'd gone for simple which wasn't surprising and yet she looked stunning.

"Did you know you're the first man to tell me that today?" she declared causing him to raise his eyebrows as she turned to look at the man who was now her husband who was busy in discussion with people from his work. "He hasn't even noticed really" she whispered causing him to sigh, noticing the disappointment in her voice. "I thought he'd notice personally but he's not even said a word to me since the ceremony".

"Kate" he whispered as she sighed and smiled up at him. "You two are going to be very happy" he declared as she nodded slowly. "Although why you danced to a song I know you hate more than anything, I will never understand" he declared causing her to laugh as he spun her around slowly.

"It's our song apparently" she muttered before rolling her eyes. "You know me Rick, I've never really paid much attention to that sort of stuff" she whispered as he nodded the song they were dancing to quickly coming to an end causing her to move away from him. "I probably won't see you for the rest of the night, I have to socialise with people apparently" she declared before rolling her eyes once more. "But Monday?" she asked.

"Monday?" he whispered causing her to nod, a small smile covering her face as she found herself laughing at the fact he couldn't remember work, questioning how much he'd had to drink as she looked at him.

"Work" she declared as he looked down at his polished black shoes and the end of her white dress. "Rick what's going on? What aren't you telling me?" she whispered as he sighed and looked back up at her.

"I didn't want to tell you this tonight, it's your wedding day and it's not fair but I'm not coming back to the precinct" he declared as she felt the world smash around her. "I've written the last NikkI Heat and well I don't need research anymore, I've got enough to last me until the end of my life" he declared causing her to shake her head.

"You don't get to do this Rick, you don't just get to end it like that without a word or even bringing it up with me, what about what I want?" she asked before grabbing his hand and dragging him pass the well-wishers who wanted to congratulate her on her marriage. "You're my partner Rick" she announced.

"I'm not a cop Kate, we knew today was coming" he whispered as she bit her lip. "It's just time Kate to start a new chapter, you've got Josh and married life now and well I've got to find something else, Nikki Heat has run its course and it's time for me to move on and search for a new muse" he declared as she continued to shake her head.

"So that's it your just leaving and replacing me with someone else" she mumbled causing him to nod, her hand smashing against his cheek gaining the attention of most the people in the room who all stared at her. "Just go Rick, I don't want to see you again" she announced before walking towards Lanie and Esposito who were stood watching. As Lanie opened her mouth Kate quickly shook her head. "Just don't" she whispered causing her to friend to nod as they all watched Rick grab his coat and leave the building, no one noticing the tear creeping down Kate's cheek as she realised that although one chapter was starting, the biggest one in her life was ending at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, thank you for the amazing response it's the biggest one I've ever had on a story so I must be doing something right! Anyway I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you did the first and I did promise to update less but I decided to write another chapter due to the large response! **

**Two Years Later **

Slipping into a small Paris hotel which had caught her eye, she sighed as she found herself walking towards the reception desk, her bag flung over her shoulder as she brushed her hair back. The hotel was small but she couldn't help but hope they'd have one room left. She hadn't booked. She hadn't planned anything of her break, she just got her dad to book the ticket for her and there she was. Paris! Sighing as she heard the man in reception ask her if she wanted anything she walked over and slowly booked herself a room on the top floor of the hotel which he commented had a beautiful view of Paris which made her quickly smile and nod. If she was going to be staying, she should at least make the effort to have a nice enough room.

"Monsieur Castle" someone else called from behind her causing her to slowly turn her head to see him standing there dressed in a white shirt and jeans, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip slowly as she saw the man who'd practically become a stranger to her once again stood in the same room as her once more.

XOXOXO

Entering the small hotel he'd stumbled across the day before, he sighed as he slipped his sunglasses off and buried them deep into his pocket, thinking about what to do next. He'd already called Alexis to see how her day had been but had upset her by waking her up. Pulling his jacket off, he smiled at some people who had passed him, glad that his fame had gone down over the past few years and that he could wonder around with more people not knowing him than knowing him.

"Monsieur Castle" he heard someone declare causing him to turn and smile at the member of hotel staff he'd discovered was a fan yesterday. Walking over, he stared at the young man who must have been in his early twenties; he smiled as the man looked at him. "I thought I should tell you, the room next to yours has now been taken" he whispered causing Rick to nod quickly, glad that the boy had found time to tell him that he was no longer alone on his floor.

"Any idea who it is?" he asked, desperately hoping it wouldn't be a family or a younger person with the sex drive of a maniac.

"Oui, she's over there sir" the man announced causing Rick to turn to see the woman already staring at him. The familiar brunette from his past. The married familiar brunette. Looking around quickly for Motorcycle Boy, he smiled as he realised he couldn't see him and quickly he approached her, noticing the closer he got that her teeth were sunk into her bottom lip.

"Hello Kate" he whispered causing her to smile at him and nod. "So you're on the same floor as me apparently" he declared causing her eyes to open a bit wider at the fact that after two years completely apart fate had brought them smashing into each other once again. Walking towards the lift, he smiled as she hit the button in the familiar force she did at the precinct, glad that by what it seemed that her marriage hadn't changed her. Entering the small lift, he noticed her minimal amount of luggage as he pressed the button for the floor their rooms were on. "Where's your stuff?" he asked as she quickly showed him the bag on her back, still not able to think of anything to say. This man had left her. He'd just wondered out of her life as quickly as he'd walked into it and it had hurt to see him leave.

"I didn't really know where I was going" she admitted before they entered an uncomfortable silence, neither of them looking at each other. "I sort of just packed a bag and got on a flight".

"Spur of the moment holidays, I love them, normally end up being the best ones" he declared causing her to smile as she looked at him and noticed that he looked older and there were lines of exhaustion under his familiar blue eyes. "So where's Josh?" he announced causing her to look away. "Kate?"

"New York" she mumbled, his eyebrows raising as she sighed, watching as he produced a bottle of water out of the bag on his shoulder and took a drink from it. "Probably having sex with a nurse from the hospital" she added causing him to choke on the water he had just consumed.

"What?" he asked once he stopped choking and resumed his normal breathing, the area slowly being consumed once again in silence. Hearing the lift doors opened, she crept out of the metal box and wondered down the corridor, her room key pressed firmly in her hand as she finally reached her door, knowing Rick was still watching her. "Kate what's going on?" he asked causing her to shake her head.

"It doesn't matter Rick" she whispered, pushing the door open quickly to see a small hotel room that was nice enough. "It was nice seeing you again Castle, we should have done it earlier" she mumbled, entering the room and turning to look at him as he rested against the opposite wall watching her, the cheeky smile from their past still painted across his face.

"Let me take you out to dinner tonight, we have two years of life to catch up on and by the sounds of it you have a lot to talk you need to talk about" he declared as she smiled and nodded. She needed a night out with a friend after so long of staying away from them all at home where she had been closing herself off from everyone who had once been close to her. Lanie, Esposito, Ryan she'd closed herself off from all of them. "So I'll meet you right here at eight so don't be late" he declared causing her to nod before he smiled and allowed himself into the room opposite her.

"How can you even be late when we're opposite each other?" she asked causing him to laugh as he entered the hotel room at the same time as she did, the two of them closing their doors at the same time and letting out a laugh when they were finally alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**I am not kidding when I say how happy I am when I see the response this story has got, although it's going to take me forever to sort my emails out now! Please keep the comments coming as I love to know what you're thinking and every review makes me write quicker much to my mother's displeasure. **

"So how have you been?" she asked as they sat at a small table outside a restaurant they'd found while wondering around the beautifully lit city. Neither of them had wanted somewhere big and when they saw the empty table outside the small restaurant playing classical music both of them had silently agreed on where to eat.

"Okay, I've been better really" he announced as she nodded, knowing exactly what he was feeling.

"Alexis and Martha? How are they?" she asked quickly as she remembered once again the bubbly teenager and eccentric woman that she'd fallen in love with when working with Castle.

"They've both flown the nest and abandoned me" he laughed causing her to smile as she remembered the family home she was often at, laughing at the debates the two Castle's and the one Rodgers would get into before declaring that they loved each other and sorting everything out. "Alexis is doing amazing in everything and mothers moved in with a guy she's met, their pretty serious now actually" he declared causing her to nod. "It's just odd having the whole apartment to myself again".

"I can't wait to have an apartment back to myself again" she muttered, gaining his attention quickly. "I'm living with dad right now, I'm the opposite to you now I'm still living with my parent while you're not" she laughed.

"May I remind you I wasn't living with my mother, she was living with me" he declared causing her to nod as he took hold of her hand across the table. "You going to tell me what happened with Josh that's made you move out?" he asked causing her to shut her eyes for a moment, a small sigh leaving her as he continued to cling onto her hand.

"Do we have to talk about this now?" she asked causing him to shake his head. "I promise, I'll tell you when I'm ready it's just a really long story" she whispered.

"Just tell me one thing, is there a chance that the two of you are still together?" he whispered causing her to shake her head and show her bare hand.

"I signed the divorce papers exactly a month ago" she announced as he smiled and nodded. "It was never meant to be, I knew it from day one, and you pointed that out on my wedding day" she whispered as he stared at her, confused at what she was talking about. "What bride dances to the song she hates most for her first dance?" she asked causing him to nod slowly, remembering the discussion clearly. "I was just too busy trying to live out my dream wedding to realise that it wasn't what I wanted at all" she mumbled causing him to sigh, his fingers stroking her knuckles gently as the waitress walked over to get their orders.

XOXOXO

"That's a lot of sea food" he laughed as the starter they'd decided to share was placed on the table. "I'm glad you like this stuff" he announced causing her to look up from the meal.

"You don't like it" she whispered causing him to laugh before explaining that he did, her whole body relaxing as she realised she wouldn't have to eat it herself but another thing rising within her. She had someone to share something with. "So why haven't you written another book? I spent ages waiting for a new series to come out" she whispered before biting into one bit of the starter, watching as he stared into his drink, a sigh slipping from his lips as he took a sip from the deep red liquid.

"I couldn't think anymore, I finished Nikki Heat and everything just went, I actually grieved for Nikki and Rook for weeks, I think that's half the reason mother moved in with this guy of hers, she got fed up of me playing the funeral march every time I reread one of the series" he announced causing Kate to laugh properly for the first time in what felt like years. "I wish I hadn't left the series where I did, I don't think I ever did Nikki justice" he finally admitted after a few moments of silence.

"Rick it was a brilliant book, I loved every minute of it" she declared as she reached over and patted his hand gently. "I've read it four times now" she whispered causing him to smile at her as she smiled gently back. "You did Heat Justice Rick, it was your best novel yet and I know you'll think of something new, you're an amazing writer you've just lost your inspiration" she mumbled before taking another bite of the food in front of them, a small smile appearing on his face as he watched her once more.

XOXOXXO

"We're in France and yet you chose Italian" he declared after the waitress had walked into the restaurant, leaving him staring at the bowl of pasta in front of his dinner guest. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked as she shrugged, slowly spinning her fork in the red mix on her plate. "Do you know what surprises me most about you being here Kate?" he whispered.

"I don't know" she announced causing him to sigh before staring down at his meal. "Rick, are you going to tell me or not?" she whispered.

"You're missing work and you don't seem to care" he declared causing her to look down, her fork continuing to spin in the pasta. "Kate?" he asked.

"I've been banned from the precinct for two months" she mumbled causing him to choke on the potato he'd just placed in his mouth. Once he'd cleared his airwaves and taken a sip of the wine in front of him, he returned to looking at her.

"You've been what? Why?" he asked, the questions causing her to start to bite her lip as she tried to think of a way to answer. She didn't know how she could explain everything that had happened that had almost ended up in her losing her job forever, the one constant thing in her life had been almost taken away from her only to be fortunately saved by Roy Montgomery's knowledge of what she was going through and his appreciation for her work.

"You've got to understand there's a lot about this divorce that I don't want to tell you yet, stuff that I haven't told anyone really" she mumbled causing him to nod. "But once I signed the papers things began to get bad for me, work just went crazy and I was living with my dad which didn't really help things and I did something I told myself I'd never do, I drunk to make things feel better" she mumbled causing him to look at the glass of water beside her, now understanding her earlier decision. "Let's just say throwing up on Montgomery's shoes and passing out ended up in me being removed from work for a while and that's why I'm here in France" she whispered, her cheeks burning red at the embarrassment of having to admit she'd been removed from her precious job because of a passing alcohol addiction. "I told myself I'd never end up like my dad after she died but I did and god do I regret it Rick" she whispered as he continued to hold onto her hand.

"We all make mistakes Kate" he announced causing her to nod slowly, the fact not making her feel any better about what she'd done. "And I bet you had a half decent reason for what you did" he whispered causing her to smile. "But surely there could have been someone you could talk to?" he asked as she shook her head.

"I'm not talking to anyone from work, I haven't been on the best of terms with them for just under a year" she declared causing him to raise his eyebrows in shock. They'd been a family when he was there. Castle, Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and Lanie. A little family of friends but now it seemed like it had all crumbled away. "I fell out with Lanie first and then Esposito and finally Ryan" she mumbled causing him to raise his eyebrows once more. "But can we talk about that some other time as well?" she asked, receiving a small familiar nod from him before they both continued to eat their meals in silence.

XOXOXOX

Walking down the brightly lit streets, he sighed as her arm linked with his, her head resting against his shoulder as he began to hum something that came into his head for no particular reason.

"What are you humming?" she asked, surprised at how comforting the small noise he was making felt. "Rick?"

"Is it really bad that I have no idea?" he laughed causing her to smile as they stopped just by a small fountain. Sitting herself on the bricks, she sighed as he looked around them, seeing the empty streets. "You never find this in New York do you?" he whispered causing her to shake her head at the complete silence except for the fountain behind her. "When do you go back there?" he asked.

"Where?" she whispered causing him to laugh gently once more at her general innocence that he very rarely used to see.

"New York" he mumbled, watching as she shrugged slowly and turned to look up at the fountain.

"I don't know, I don't even know how long I'm going to stay here for, I might travel around for a bit" she whispered before looking at him. "What about you? When do you go back?"

"When I get bored of travelling around France trying to get ideas" he declared causing her to sigh. "Kate this may be ridiculous and you may not have forgiven me yet for walking out of your life and not being there for you when you needed me but come with me" he whispered watching as Kate got to her feet almost as quickly as he'd blurted out his suggestion.

"What?"

"Come with me, travel around with me, we both need the break and well I think you need the company" he declared as she stood there, quickly turning to face the fountain once more. Thinking hard about how she was going to answer him.


	4. Chapter 4

**WOW! Honestly that's what I did today when I saw how many reviews the last chapter had. Thank you for your amazing comments, I appreciate every single one of them and I hope this story continues to keep you entertained and happy. I would like to warn there will be aspects later that aren't as light because we will learn more about Kate's divorce but don't worry there will be loads of Caskett! Also I have to agree with the song, I went and looked on YouTube and had to agree with what you said! **

"Good morning" she whispered as she walked out of her hotel room to see him leaving hers, a smile appearing on his face as he stared at the woman in front of him, dressed in a knee length white dress and a white sunhat on her head, her brown hair curled around her face.

"Good morning Miss Beckett, you look beautiful today" he laughed as he held out his arm for her, hers snaking around it slowly.

"You're the first person to call me beautiful since my wedding day" she laughed as he raised his eyebrows. "Actually you were the last person to call me beautiful then" she added causing him to stare at her. He remembered when they had danced at her wedding and she had mentioned how Josh had not called her beautiful yet even though she looked completely radiant.

"Please tell me you're joking" he declared. "He never said you looked beautiful on your wedding day, now that's just wrong".

"Who?" she whispered as he raised his eyebrows as she realised they were back to discussing Josh, hitting herself mentally for bringing it up. "Well at the end of the dinner he did tell me he bet I would look hot once I was out of my dress and used words like sexy and hot and things like that but I never got beautiful or pretty or something pleasant that wasn't related to sex" she explained as he groaned. How could that man not see how beautiful she was and not want to tell her that every moment of their marriage, however short it had been? "Do you know what was sad?" she declared.

"What?" he whispered as she bit her lip and hit the button for the lift before looking up at him.

"I was wearing my mums dress on my wedding day and he told me it would look better on the bedroom floor" she mumbled as he pulled her into a hug. "How was I stupid enough to think our marriage would work after that Rick?" she asked as she laughed, thinking about how ridiculous and desperate she'd been throughout her first year of marriage.

"Fancy going to breakfast and discussing plans? Get your mind of the bloody idiot who couldn't appreciate how amazing you are" he asked causing her to shake her head, a small smile appearing on her face as she thought about how he'd called her amazing. "Your turning down breakfast Kate" he announced in shock as she laughed.

"I'm turning down the plans bit, Rick if we're going to have a spontaneous holiday, I mean it when I say no plans let's just go where we want to go" she declared causing him to smile at her. This wasn't the Kate Beckett he had known two years ago, this woman seemed to be running away from something and it nerved him but the idea of running around Europe with her excited him more than anything.

"Go on then, let's just go where we end up going" he declared causing her to smile. "I've got a rental car as well, it's nothing posh or noticeable but I fell in love with it when I saw it and had to have that one, you'll love it when you see it" he announced as they entered the lift, watching as the doors shut on their floor. "I can't believe you agreed to go with me Kate" he laughed as she smiled and shrugged, the doors opening on the ground floor as she walked out, turning to look at him when she realised he wasn't standing with her.

"I'll eat everything if you don't hurry up and then you'll have to starve until lunch" she announced causing him to laugh as he walked after her.

"Well it would do you good, you've lost weight over the years" he declared as she rolled her eyes and led him towards the small restaurant within the hotel, desperately wishing he would stop commenting on how much she'd changed as it made her realise that one day she'd have to explain everything to him one day, especially now they were going travelling together.

XOXOXOXO

"Lanie and Esposito got married a few months after you left, actually just after Christmas, it was a beautiful wedding I was jealous about how perfect it was but Lanie really did deserve her dream wedding and Esposito did so much overtime to pay for it to be the way she wanted" Kate declared as they sat at the table staring at their breakfast which remained untouched on their plates. "They have a little boy now called Jack, I've not met him properly, and he's three months old" she mumbled as he stared at her. "I'd already fallen out with Lanie and Esposito when he was born so there's not been a chance unfortunately" she announced. "Ryan and Jenny have a little girl called Molly, I've met her she must be around one" she declared as she smiled, thinking about the sweet girl.

"What's she like?" he asked.

"Adorable, they've been trying to get in contact with you to be godfather actually" she declared. "It's me and you, Lanie and Esposito but they haven't had the christening yet there waiting to hear from you" she announced as he smiled, glad that they were waiting for him and that he hadn't missed out on being involved in the things that he loved. "You really should call them at some point, their desperate for you to be part of the family, although I'll be lucky if I'm still in it after what I did to Ryan at work" she groaned as he raised his eyebrows, receiving a quick shake of the head to show that she didn't want to discuss it.

"Remind me and I'll ring them tonight" he declared causing her to nod slowly. "And what about you? No kids?" he asked causing her to look down at her food. "Oh my god Kate, do you have children?"

"Can we eat now? I'm starving" she whispered before starting to nibble on the piece of bread in front of her. She couldn't have this discussion yet. She hadn't ever had this discussion with anyone and wasn't ready to just blurt out all her feelings and emotions in front of a restaurant full of hotel guests. Finding her hand on the table, he smiled as he took hold of it causing her to look up at him.

"When you're ready I'll be here" he mumbled softly causing her to smile as she continued to eat, enjoying the feeling of having someone to talk to about things. She'd lost all her friends and would have felt awkward discussing the things that had happened with her father. "Always Kate" he added as she smiled at the use of the word they used to always say to each other when they meant something.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow another amazing response, I honestly can't get over all the emails I get saying I've got new reviews or this has been added to someone's alerts or favourites! It honestly really makes me smile which if you met my friends they would tell you it's a very hard thing to do. Anyway I hope you continue to enjoy it and here's the next chapter! Also I return to school tomorrow, so updates will be a lot slower as I start my GCSE's in a week and therefore need to get on with my revision!**

"It's quite nice walking down the street with no one knowing your name" she laughed as she clung onto his arm as they walked down the busy street, no one glancing at them or screaming Rick's name like she remembered. "Makes you seem normal".

"I am normal Kate, I just used to write amazing books" he announced the note of sadness on the word used clear to her as they continued to walk through the street, enjoying each other's company and the fact that they were around complete strangers for once.

"You'll write amazing books again Rick, you're a writer this is just what you go through, and I bet your next book will be the best" she declared as he smiled at the woman next to him. He'd missed her, he hadn't realised how much until he'd gotten close to her once again.

"Nothing can beat Nikki Heat, she's the one that's closest to my heart, and she always will be" he declared causing her to laugh before smiling. "She's my slutty cop" he added, a roll of her eyes reminding him of the fight they'd had over the chosen name and the pink dress she'd been wearing at the time. "Nikki brought me closer to you Kate and those years were the best of my life".

"Same here" she mumbled before kissing his cheek and smiling. "Murders became a lot less fun when you left, there were no longer any ridiculous theories to laugh at or coffee first thing in the morning" she declared as they reached their destination. Leading her to an area which was less crowded, he pulled his jacket off and placed it onto the grass.

"Sit, your dressed all in white and I know women, grass stains are not their favourite things" he declared causing her to smile as she sat herself down on his jacket, enjoying the fact someone was actually paying attention to what she was wearing and thinking. Sitting himself beside her, he sighed as they looked up at the large tower. "It was either here or Disney Land and I thought that perhaps it was too much too soon to take you there" he laughed causing her to nod.

"I don't think I'm ready to take responsibility of you in a place full of Disney, I know how excited you get when they show it on the television" she announced as he placed his hand on his heart and sighed.

"I'm touched that you remembered, it's just a shame you didn't stay for the film" he declared, watching her as she took the food they'd bought of the bag. "You would have enjoyed it".

"I'm sorry Rick but I've seen Beauty and the Beast so many times, I think seeing it once more would have ruined the enjoyment" she declared causing him to nod as he stared at her, this not going unnoticed. "What? Have I got something on my face?" she asked before he quickly shook his head. "Then why are you staring Rick?".

"You remind me of Belle a lot" he declared, her eyebrows rising in amusement. "A beautiful clever brunette, independent and not in need for a woman who cares about others" he declared. "Of course your well read, it's just a shame your dad's not an inventor" he announced causing her to laugh as she realised how serious he was about the whole thing. "Let's eat I'm starving" he declared causing her to nod as she stared at him.

XOXOXOXXO

"So have there been any lucky ladies in your life over the past two years Castle?" she whispered as she took a bite from the bar of chocolate she had chosen so particularly in the small chocolate shop on the way. "Come on there must have been someone in your life Rick with Alexis and Martha gone".

"No, I haven't been with anyone" he declared as she raised her eyebrows although not completely shocked. "I never found someone who was right, there was someone once but I never got the chance to tell her how I felt before she found someone else who apparently made her happy" he whispered as she stared at him and sighed.

"Things happen for a reason Rick even when you can't see it" she mumbled as he smiled at her. "Anyway I bet she didn't find anyone who could love her as much as you could, you're an extremely loving person Rick any woman would be lucky to have you" she declared causing him to laugh. "What's funny?" she asked as he calmed himself and touched her hand, not knowing exactly how to tell her.

"The woman who I was talking about Kate" he whispered causing her to nod as she waited for an answer. "Was Lanie Parish but unfortunately Esposito took her away from me" he declared causing her to laugh. "I'm joking" he whispered as she sighed.

"Good because I can't imagine Esposito being happy about having competition" she declared as he shook his head in agreement. "So who was she this woman that got away then?" she asked as he smiled, his hand running up to her cheek, pushing the stray piece of hair away from her face.

"You Kate" he declared causing her to stare at him in shock. "It was always you".

**And I can tell that many of you are going to be angry at me for leaving it there, but it's so much fun!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow that was an amazing response; I don't think I've ever had a response like that so thank you! I'm not extremely happy with this chapter but I didn't want Kate to just go running into his arms so I'm dragging it out! Also I am supposed to be learning French for my exam in 2 weeks but I am giving up time to write this so I don't know when the next one may be. **

_"So who was she this woman that got away then?" she asked as he smiled, his hand running up to her cheek, pushing the stray piece of hair away from her face._

_"You Kate" he declared causing her to stare at him in shock. "It was always you"._

"What?" she mumbled as he held onto hand while his other rested on her cheek, his thumb running under her eye as she watched him and felt comfort in his touch. "Me?" she whispered causing him to nod before he smiled and pressed a kiss against her forehead gently, his eyes shutting gently as his lips moved away from her skin.

"Ever since the day I met you I knew you were special" he mumbled onto her forehead as her eyes shut, enjoying the feeling of having someone touch her lovingly rather than because it was what was right. "You're amazing Kate Beckett no matter what anyone makes you think you will always be stunning to me" he declared as he moved away, his hand still clinging onto hers. "And I'm sorry if this makes travelling with me impossible".

"No of course I still want to travel with you Rick, I need to be with someone who loves me for me right now" she announced as she slipped next to him and sighed. "As long as you don't make any indecent remarks Rick, I think we'll be okay" she declared as he smiled, glad she wasn't afraid to stay with him. Normally Kate would run away, his Kate would run away and close herself off from the world, hiding her feelings and although she hadn't said much she was hiding behind the wall she used to protect herself from others.

"Are you okay?" he whispered causing her to nod as she took in the warmth as his arm wrapped around her, holding her close to him.

"It's not like it changes anything Rick, does it? You've lived with this for five years, you can keep on living through it until you find the right person, someone who loves you as much as you love them" she mumbled before sighing, knowing in her heart that wasn't how she was truly feeling but she wasn't ready, ready to move on after everything.

XOXOXOXO

Entering his hotel room, he sighed as he heard the door opposite him close. Neither of them had said much since his declaration of love for her and now she'd snuck back into her room using the excuse that she was exhausted and that she'd see him for dinner. Sitting himself down on the bed, he stared at his phone and sighed, not caring what time it was he just need to find out what was going on. Dialling the number quickly, he sighed as he clung onto the phone in desperation.

"Esposito" he declared causing Rick to smile. "This better not be you Ryan, I've told you twice now to stop calling me for no reason" he moaned, although a hint of laughter was obvious in his voice.

"It's Castle" Rick slowly whispered causing the man down the phone to choke.

"Hey Castle, what are you doing? Why are you calling?" Esposito announced as Rick sighed. "You don't just call for no reason Castle, what's wrong?"

"I know you're not talking to her but what happened to Kate? What did Josh do to her?" he asked causing Javier to groan. "Please I need to know what's going on with her" he begged, knowing he sounded weak and would have to later answer questions on why he was so interested in Kate all of a sudden.

"I don't know exactly, she was taken into hospital after a job once and everything started to go downhill after that. She fell out with Lanie while in hospital, no one knew what was wrong she fell down the stairs and no one understood why it was so bad, she wouldn't tell anyone" Esposito explained causing Rick to nod. "Then when she started drinking after the divorce things were horrific, no one was talking to her and she was just horrid to be around" he declared. "I'm sorry Rick but she's not the same Beckett that you knew".

"I know that, I'm with her now" Rick explained.

"What do you mean you're with her now?" a female voice announced causing him to laugh as he realised Lanie had been listening into the conversation. "She's in France" Lanie declared.

"I know, so I am, I bumped into her at the hotel, we're going travelling together" Rick laughed as he listened to Lanie sigh.

"Rick please be careful with her, she's secretive even more so than before, no one knows what caused Josh to divorce her but we all know that about a month into the marriage neither of them were happy" Lanie stated, knowing that although they weren't on the best of terms she'd always do her best to protect the woman who she'd once been close to. "Just look after her and don't push her, let her come to you".

"Thanks" he uttered, knowing Lanie was right. "How's your baby boy? Kate told me about him she's sorry that she hasn't been able to see him yet, she's just being stubborn" he declared as Lanie laughed.

"Doesn't surprise me" she laughed. "He's fine thank you, you'll have to come and see him when you get back to New York" she added as Rick smiled, enjoying the idea of being able to see them all again.

"As long as you organise for me to see Ryan, Jenny and Molly at the same time" he murmured as Lanie laughed.

"We'll arrange something when you get back" Esposito declared causing Rick to sigh as there was a small knock at his door.

"I need to go, Kate's here" he whispered before hearing the couple whisper their goodbyes and he hung up. Walking over he opened the door to see her standing there, her arms wrapped around her tightly. "Hey" he whispered.

"Can I come in?" she asked as he nodded, allowing her into the small room. "We need to talk, I wanted to forget it earlier but I couldn't, I can't just let it go not without discussing it with you" she explained as he nodded, watching her pick up the book that was resting on his bedside table, a small smile on her face as she read the blurb.

"What do you want to talk about Kate?" he asked as she sighed and put the book down, looking at him quickly.

"I want to talk about the fact that you've been in love with me for five years and you never thought to tell me" she mumbled, tears in her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow the reviews are in the hundreds now, I'm so happy that you guys take the time to comment and are enjoying this so much. Hopefully this is what you wanted to see but I'm not too sure on it but I let you have one thing about what happened in Kate and Josh's marriage as well! Anyway please continue to review. **

_"What do you want to talk about Kate?" he asked as she sighed and put the book down, looking at him quickly._

_"I want to talk about the fact that you've been in love with me for five years and you never thought to tell me" she mumbled, tears in her eyes._

"Kate I was going to, I tried so many times and I was going to but then you said you were engaged and I couldn't, I couldn't when I saw that look on your face" he whispered, moving away from her slowly to look out of the window, enjoying the relaxing view of the Paris streets. "I couldn't ruin your happiness".

"My happiness" she declared. "I was in love with you Richard Castle for three years and I waited for you to make a move, to give some indication that you felt the same and you never did" she explained, staring at his back as he stood there in complete shock. "I loved you and I settled for second best because I never thought you'd want me the way I wanted you".

"Kate I've always wanted you, I've never stopped wanting you, the whole way through your wedding I wanted to stand up and tell you I loved you, tell you that I wanted you to be my bride and be my one and done" he announced, not wanting to turn around because seeing her would make it harder, make it more real. "You were so beautiful and happy that day, you looked so stunning in your mother's dress that I couldn't help but love you more than ever and want you to be happy and I was certain that would be with Josh so I backed away, I left because I couldn't bare to watch you live your life with someone who wasn't me" he explained before finally turning to look at her. "I love you Kate, that's never stopped".

"Why are you always so late?" she asked as she stared at him, watching him stand there looking awkward at her question. "Why do you always say things too late?" she declared. "You could have stopped me from two years of hell Rick but you didn't".

"I didn't know Kate, if I was able to look into the future and see what would have happened to you I would have done and I would have stopped you walking up that aisle but honestly would you have listened to me? Because I believe the Kate Beckett I know wouldn't have let me ruin her big day because of something like that" he declared causing her to smile as she shook her head slowly, knowing inside that he was right.

"Your right, I wouldn't have listened to you" she whispered, seating herself on the end of his bed and sighing, her hands running quickly through her hair as she tried to think about what she wanted to say. "I was the one who made the mistake, I settled for second best because I was scared that I'd never get the life I dreamt of and in the end I never did" she declared, shutting her eyes as she tried to blank out everything, the feel of someone sitting beside her causing her to sigh quickly, his arm wrapping around her, comforting her in a way she so desperately needed. "I was being a stubborn cow wasn't I?"

"Of course" he whispered causing her to punch him gently. "That's who you are Kate and I wouldn't change it for the world, you're just so perfect" he declared, feeling her move closer to him, her eyes shutting slowly as she sighed.

"You've showed me more love in the past few minutes than Josh had in two years" she whispered, not looking up because she knew she'd stop everything she was saying if she saw him looking at her. Wondering. "I was looking for something in my marriage that was never there and it took my two years to learn that, because after a while I realised I was sat there staring at the phone or into your books waiting for you to walk back into my life, I was in love with you the whole time I was married to someone else" she declared, a single tear trickling down her cheek. Looking up, she sighed as he touched her chin with one thing, a smile appearing on her face as he pressed a kiss against her forehead.

XOXOXOXO

Lying on the bed, he sighed as he turned to see her lying beside him staring up at the ceiling, a smile on her face as she continued to clutch onto his hand. Moving closer, she sighed, his arm wrapping around her waist as she buried her head against his shirt, her eyes shutting.

"We were trying for a baby" she whispered, this grabbing his attention quickly. "We spent months trying and I couldn't get pregnant, we were getting worried and were about to go to the doctors when it finally happened, I was pregnant" she admitted, tears appearing in her eyes as she began to remember everything. "About a month and a half into it, I was on a job and the door opened with me at a top of the stairs, I got pushed down the flight of the stairs and rushed to hospital" she whispered.

"Did you lose it?" he asked causing her to nod, the tears getting worse. "What happened then?" he whispered.

"Josh was cross about how I'd lost the baby doing a job that was dangerous, he said I had to leave my job if I wanted to start a family" she declared as he looked at her, holding her closer to him. "He kept saying that if I didn't leave my job he would leave me and you have no idea how close I was to leaving the precinct" she whispered, her whole body shaking in his arms.

"Kate" he mumbled.

"The day I lost the baby Lanie came to the hospital and told me she'd just found out she was pregnant, I couldn't talk to her, I screamed and sent her away, I haven't talked to her since" she announced as he looked at her, watching as she slowly moved to look at him. "I was a horrid person Rick, no wonder they all hate me" she sobbed.

"Kate, none of this was your fault" he declared as she watched him. "You were not yourself Kate, you'd just lost a baby, been told by your husband to quit your job and things were going wrong for you, they won't hate you when they find out why" he whispered.

"I can't tell them Rick, Lanie will hate me when she finds out that she told me that after everything that happened" she mumbled as he watched her. "After trying for a baby for five months Rick I actually was desperate for it to happen".

"Kate" he whispered.

"I wanted that baby so much Rick because it was going to save everything, it was going to make my life better and I couldn't even keep it safe" she sobbed, tears streaming down her face as he continued to hold her, his eyes shutting as he thought about everything.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, another chapter! Thank you once again for the amazing response but unfortunately I doubt there will be one tomorrow because I am in London for the Royal Wedding, waving my England flag like a mad man so Castle has to be put on hold for the state event unfortunately! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and can wait till Saturday for the next one. **

Opening his eyes he stared down at the woman lying fast asleep beside him, his arms wrapped around her while her head rested gently on his chest. Smiling slowly, he moved his hand up and down her back for two reasons, one because he wanted to touch her and two because his hand had died while he was asleep. Hearing Kate groan, he laughed as she looked up and stared at a while before smiling.

"Hey" they both whispered at the same time before laughing, the sound of their laughter covering any nervous atmosphere that both of them were scared that would have filled the room. They didn't want to be nervous around each other now they had been courageous enough to admit the truth behind their feelings but it didn't stop either of them worrying about the other's reaction. Sitting up slowly, she sighed as she looked towards the window, noticing how dark the sky was

"I guess I should head back to my room" she mumbled as she turned to look at him, a small smile creeping onto her face before she climbed off the bed and bit her lip to stop herself laughing at the fact she'd fallen asleep in the arms of Richard Castle. The Richard Castle she'd dreamt of sleeping with for five years. "Night Rick" she whispered as she turned to look at him once she'd reached the door.

"Night Kate" he replied, a smile creeping onto his own face causing her to sigh as she left the room, although she didn't want to she had to because it wasn't right. It wasn't right to just stay because they'd admitted something they never thought they would. It wasn't right to just fling herself at him because he loved her and she loved him. She wasn't desperate.

XOXOXOXO

_You awake? C x _

Staring at her phone a few hours after she'd left his room, she felt a smile creep onto her face as she began to tap away at the screen, wanting to reply to him as quick as she could. Enjoying the feeling of no longer being alone in a dark room even though he was just across the corridor and would accept a visit from her if she needed it.

_Yes I can't sleep! K x_

_I could come over if you like R x _

_I don't want to disturb your sleep K x _

Waiting she heard no reply causing her to place the phone back on her bedside table and sigh. Why hadn't he replied? And since when had she become a woman who waited for a guy to reply to her texts? Hearing a small tap at her door, she sat up staring around the room quickly, checking whether she'd actually heard a noise or whether it was just her imagination.

"Kate" she heard someone whisper causing her to climb out of bed as she ran towards the door and opened it, smiling at the man who was standing in front of her in his star wars pyjamas. "I was worried about you" he mumbled as she allowed him into the room, her arms wrapping around herself as she realised she was only dressed in a black lace nightgown that was incredibly short. "Wow" he whispered.

"What?" she asked, her cheeks burning red as she realised his eyes were looking up and down her body, noticing how little she was wearing.

"Sorry I'm making you uncomfortable" he whispered causing her to nod slowly as she realised there was no point lying to him because some how he always got to the truth. Walking towards her, he smiled before lifting her into his arms, her own arms wrapping slowly around his neck amazing him that she hadn't decided to argue over his decision to carry her to her bed. Kate Beckett was strong and didn't assistance from anyone and he knew that but right now he was ignoring it. Lying her on the bed, he smiled as she patted the space beside her, allowing him to lie down next to her, her body slowly moving towards his causing his arms to wrap around her. "I didn't mean to make you look uncomfortable I just can't believe how beautiful you are Kate" he whispered.

"Thanks you" she whispered, pressing a kiss slowly against his cheek. "Thank you for being amazing" she mumbled.

"Amazing? What have I been amazing about?" he asked.

"About everything, you're the first person I've told about the baby and the only person I ever want to" she mumbled, her eyes shutting slowly as he sighed. "I never wanted to have a baby but when I got pregnant after five months of trying every day to get pregnant and wanting to shoot myself when I wasn't late I was so happy to have her there" she whispered.

"Her?" he asked causing her to laugh gently.

"I always thought it would be a girl, Josh wanted a boy he made that clear from the start but I wanted a little girl, someone I could name after my mum" she whispered as he smiled, his arm wrapped a tiny bit tighter around her. "I lost my mum and my baby Rick and then I lost my marriage, I don't think I'm ever going to have a decent long lasting relationship".

"Hey what about you and me?" he asked.

"What?" she whispered as she looked up at him, his finger resting under her chin. "We haven't got a relationship".

"Yes we have and it's lasted five years, if that's not a long lasting relationship I don't know what is" he laughed causing her to nod slowly as she smiled at him. "Come on, we're leaving tomorrow so you need to sleep".

"Will you stay though?" she asked. "I mean stay the whole night with me". It was clear to him that Kate was embarrassed to ask a man to stay with her, she didn't want help from anyone and in her mind she never thought another man would want her after Josh had left. Josh had broken her confidence. Had destroyed everything she felt confident about within herself. He had smashed down any walls she had had remaining and used it to his advantage. To get what he wanted. To have a wife that wanted exactly what he wanted. He'd broken her down so he could manipulate her into doing everything that he'd wished for and it hurt when she thought about it. Thought about everything she'd allowed him to do.

"Are you okay?" he whispered as he looked down at her after her feeling her tense in his arms.

"Yeah, just tired" she mumbled before kissing his cheek, staring at the small cartoon pictures of star wars characters. "Star Wars" she laughed.

"Of course, biggest fan ever" he announced as she giggled lightly at the idea of being cuddled up against a guy dressed in cartoon pyjamas. "It doesn't embarrass you does it?" he asked causing her to shake her head.

"It's actually rather cute" she mumbled, the room going silent after that as she stared at him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, I haven't seen such a beautiful wedding in my life; I was shocked at how stunning the wedding dress was. Anyway enough of the Royal Wedding and back to Castle, I decided to write an extra-long update because I didn't update earlier but I was awake from 4 am and had been stood up for 11 hours so I was rather exhausted yesterday! Anyway here's another chapter and this one I'm really not happy with but wedding has made my brain turn completely blah! **

Groaning as she opened her arms, she felt the man around her a small smile creeping onto her face as she realised she was once again cuddled up against Richard Castle, a small frown replacing her smile when she realised his hand was resting at the top of her thigh.

"Rick" she whispered as she heard him groan again. "Richard Castle your hand is on my leg" she whispered causing his eyes to open quickly, his hands not moving from her bare leg, a small smile appearing on his face as he took in the woman lying beside him. Her non made up face and her morning hair just made her look more beautiful than anything.

"Wow" he muttered, her eye brows rising as she stared at him, confused at what he was talking about. "You're so unbelievably beautiful Kate" he explained, his hand moving away from her thigh and instead found itself placed gently against her cheek, her eyes looking down as he sighed. "I can't believe I missed out on the chance to wake up to this every morning".

"I was the one who made the decision Rick, I decided to marry Josh, and you had no proper chance to tell me what you felt" she explained, clutching onto his free hand desperately. "Anyway you're the one I chose to spend my travelling time with" she added causing him to smile as he pulled her close to him, his arms wrapping around her as he rolled her onto her back, looking down at her as she laughed, her head turning to the right as she looked towards the open curtains to see daylight streaming into the room. "Are we leaving today?" she asked.

"It depends, do you want to leave today?" he asked as she shrugged gently in reply. "We could leave tonight, spend today in Paris and drive tonight" he suggested.

"What about if you get tired driving tonight?" she asked causing his eyebrows to rise. "I'm on holiday, I'm not driving" she laughed.

"Brilliant" he chuckled before she bit her lip. "I guess we could just stop and sleep in the car if we ended up really tired, I don't know how warm it will be but we could always snuggle together" he whispered as she laughed once more at the use of his word snuggling in the idea of the two of them together. She never imagined that she'd be cuddling with Richard Castle even before her engagement to Josh when she'd been completely and madly in love with him.

"I think we need to get up" she suggested, a small groan leaving his lips as he moved away from her and lay beside her instead, staring up at the hotel room ceiling. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm just thinking that I'm going to get out of this bed and you're never going to let me back in again" he whispered as she turned to look at him. "I've had a teaser of what I could have and I like it Kate, I like it a lot" he muttered as she bit her lip, desperately trying to think of something decent to say in return knowing that if she allowed herself to just speak she'd end up saying more than she wanted to.

"Perhaps one day I'll let you have more than a teaser Richard" she whispered as he raised his eyebrows, a small grin appearing on his face before she nudged him, causing him to roll closer to the edge of the bed. "Now out" she ordered, quickly climbing out of the bed herself, staring down at the outfit she was wearing.

"You really are beautiful Kate" he whispered as he sat up, revealing his pyjamas to her causing her to laugh as she thought about how she'd gone to bed with a man dressed in star wars cartoon pyjamas. "What are you thinking about?"

"How I went to bed with a man child" she laughed before walking towards him and grabbing his hand, pulling him out of the bed quickly. "Now go and change and pack Rick, I want to get dressed" she whispered.

"I could always help" he commented causing her to throw a cushion at him. "Okay I'm leaving now due to your abuse" he laughed before quickly exiting the room not wanting to be hit with another cushion, a smile covering her face not knowing that he was doing the exact same thing on the opposite side of the door.

XOXOXOXO

Walking down the street, she laughed as people began to run back into buildings as rain slowly began to drizzle onto them. It was nothing she wasn't used to, it wasn't like a storm and it was only a light bit of rain.

"Don't you think we're missing something?" he whispered as he watched another couple run into a building. "See that everyone else is running inside and we're practically the only ones left outside now" he explained before the rain got heavier, soaking them quickly causing the couple to burst into hysterics.

"I think you just found out your answer" she commented causing him to nod as they stood in the dark street, the rain soaking their clothes and their bodies as they stared at each other. "I'm not ready to go inside yet".

"Neither am I" he agreed as she clung onto his hand and they continued to walk down the street, her head resting slowly against his shoulder as she'd gotten used to doing when they walked together. "I think Paris is great".

"It's such a beautiful city" she whispered as they continued to walk down the street. "Everything about it is enchanting, no wonder they call it the city of love" she muttered, taking in the sights around them.

"It's not the only beautiful thing here Kate" he muttered as he watched her, her eyes glaring at him as she stopped and stared at the man beside her. Slipping his fingers towards her face, he smiled as he moved the stray piece of hair behind her ear, their eyes staring into each other's as his hand remained cupped around her head. "If anything's as beautiful as Paris it's you" he mumbled as she leant up and pressed her lips slowly against his, the rain drenching them as they continued to kiss, his other hand cupping the other side of her head, her hands pressing against his chest. Moving away a small gasp left her lips as she remained with her eyes shut.

"Wow" the two of the mumbled causing them to both laugh as they looked around, the streets still empty as the rain continued to drench them to the skin.

"Amazing" he whispered while watching her trace her lips with her finger, a small smile creeping onto her face as she continued to remember the kiss they'd just shared. ."You okay Kate?" he asked. Nodding quickly, she smiled as her arms wrapped quickly around his neck, her lips pressing against his once more to enjoy another moment of being connected to him.

"I wanted to kiss you in Paris since the day we met in the hotel" she admitted, looking down at their feet to save her from the embarrassment of looking at him. "I wanted to kiss you the moment I saw you, I can't believe how much I missed you".

"Let's not think about that Kate, it doesn't matter anymore" he whispered causing her to nod slowly. "Things happen for a reason Kate and we found each other again, so this must be right" he declared, his hand slipping to her cheek slowly as a smile crawled onto both their faces. "Fancy starting on our journey?" he asked.

"I'd love to Rick" she whispered, her arm wrapping around his as he led her towards the hotel to collect their luggage.

XOXOXOXO

Sitting in the car, she stared at him as he continued to hum along to the radio, even though the songs were being blurted out in French and she knew he had no true understanding of what it meant.

"Bloody rain" he moaned, disrupting her trail of thought, a smile appearing across her face as she slipped her hand to his. "Why is it that when we decide to leave it just rains harder?" he asked causing her to shrug. "Thank you Kate, you're extremely helpful".

"I don't know Rick, I'm not here to understand the weather, if you wanted that find yourself a weather girl" she announced causing him to smile. "Don't even think about it".

"I wasn't" he laughed. "Honestly".

"Good" she whispered as she began to stare out of the window again at the dark and rain soaked city, it was impossible to see much but you could still see the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance, a small smile creeping onto her face as she continued to look at the place where he'd told her he had always had feelings for her, where he'd listened to her talk about things, where she'd opened her eyes again.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked causing her to sigh as she turned to look at him again, her head resting against the back of the seat. "You look exhausted.

"I'm fine" she mumbled before yawning. "Okay maybe just a little bit tired" she declared causing him to nod as he slowly pulled over. "What are you doing?"

"Your exhausted, so am I" he whispered as she smiled. "Get in the back, climb round don't bother going outside" he declared before climbing out of the car. Following his instructions, she smiled as she leant back in the back seat of the car and watched him slowly sit beside her, clinging onto one of his bags, his clothes completely drenched. Leaning over, she sighed before slowly unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt, feeling him shaking underneath it as she slipped the material off and slowly ran her hand down her bare chest, her teeth slowly sinking into her lip as she felt him under her skin. Stopping at his heart, she rested her hand on it and smiled slowly.

"It's nice to be close to someone again" she mumbled slowly while staring at where her hand was. Slipping his hand up to join hers, he smiled as she looked up at him.

"I'm always glad to be that someone" he whispered gently.


	10. Chapter 10

**Once again thank you for the amazing response, I really appreciate the time you all take to read this and add it to your favourites or to even write reviews. Every email I get in relation to this story brings a smile to my face, so thanks! I've written a shorter chapter this time but I promise the next one will be longer; this one is to just bring us into the next one and have a bit of Caskett to get us through the boring Sundays! **

Climbing into the front of the car, she smiled as she looked back round to see him fast asleep, his hair scruffy and a smile on his face. She couldn't get over the fact she was with him again. He was Richard Castle the man who had taken her heart the moment she'd met him and she couldn't believe that she'd fallen asleep in his arms three times and had felt so safe with him. Hearing him groan, she smiled as he opened his eyes and stared at her.

"I'm going to take you out to dinner one day" he whispered, a small smile creeping onto her face as she watched him. "I'm going to take you to dinner and take you dancing" he explained as she continued to watch him. "I'm going to court you and love you forever because it's everything you deserve" he mumbled as she slowly crept into the back of the car and sat in the small space left on the seat. Touching his cheek gently, she smiled before leaning down and kissing him, his hands running up her back as she laughed, her body being pulled down on top of his as they continued to kiss.

"Hello" she mumbled as they slowly moved away from each other, still looking directly into each other's eyes. "I like the sound of that, so you better keep to it Castle" she announced. "If I'm not taken to dinner and dancing soon I will be extremely frustrated" she laughed as he smiled and touched her cheek. "Although I haven't got anything really to wear dancing, I wasn't exactly prepared for that sort of activity" she laughed as he smiled and ran his hand through her hair.

"Then I'll buy you a dress, I'll buy anything you want because you deserve it Kate" he whispered as she stared at him and smiled, her lips pressing against his once more as she smiled, her hands running through his hair as his arms tightened around her back. "We really should get a move on" he mumbled onto her lips as she nodded.

"I'm rather enjoying just being here right now" she whispered before kissing him slowly, his hand running up her back as she giggled lightly onto his skin. "But I think it would be good if we got a move on, it's stopped raining and everything" she declared as she slipped off him and climbed back into the front of the car, smiling as he sat himself up as well.

"Where's my shirt Kate?" he asked causing her to turn and wink at him. "Katherine Beckett, where's my shirt?" he asked as he leant over and touched her cheek. "Tell me".

"I've hidden it" she smiled as he kissed her cheek and continued to kiss her face.

"Where…have…you…hidden….it" he asked between kisses as she giggled lightly and shook her head. "Tell me or I shall never forgive you Kate" he whispered as she slowly pulled the shirt out from under the driver's seat.

"For someone who used to play a lot of games you really don't like people teasing you" she mumbled as he nodded and climbed into the front of the car as well, sitting himself down before buttoning his shirt up. "Now where are we going?" she asked.

"Wherever this road takes us" he announced before kissing her gently.


	11. Chapter 11

**Right just to say I've only been to Belgium once and I was there for a day with school and it just consisted of us eating chocolate and waffles! So sorry if my representation of Belgium isn't very good but they won't be there long! Anyway thank you for all your reviews, still love them all and I think I will forever! **

"You've got…" she began as he stared at her, his tongue trying to reach the smudge of melting chocolate that covered his cheek. "Come here" she whispered, touching the bottom of his cheek slowly before standing up slightly and kissing his cheek, a smile creeping onto his face as he felt her lips on his skin. Moving away, she smiled at his now clean cheek, her cheeks slowly burning red from the embarrassment of doing that in public. She'd never done anything that personal in public with anyone before and it shocked her slightly that she was doing it in such a strange country.

"Are you okay?" he asked causing her to nod. "A very un Beckett act there Kate" he declared causing her to laugh as she nodded and turned to look at him, his arms wrapping around her tightly as she continued to laugh at him. "I'm liking this new girl here" he commented as she smiled at him.

"Well you're just meeting the real Kate" she whispered before kissing her cheek gently. "I'm no longer Beckett anymore Rick, I'm just Kate now".

"I'm liking Kate" he smiled before kissing her, his arms still remaining around her as he stared at her. "Although I do love Beckett as well" he mumbled. "I love the sexy tough cop but also the gentle loving beautiful woman behind her" he explained as she smiled.

"Well good because not many people see her" she whispered as he smiled. "You're lucky you get to see her after the pain you've been sometimes, honestly Rick you can be the biggest pain ever but I wouldn't have it any other way" she whispered before kissing him, a small smile appearing on his face as he took hold of her hand and led her down the street. Sitting her down on the bench, he smiled as she continued to hold onto his hand.

"Stay right here, don't move" he declared as she lifted her eyebrows, watching him slowly as he bent down and kissed her. "Just trust me".

"Fine but if someone comes along and kidnaps me Richard you'll have it on your shoulders forever" she announced as he walked away laughing, a small smile appearing on her face as she shook her head with only one thought on her mind. She was madly in love with Richard Castle and had been since she could remember.

XOXOXOXXO

Seeing her from a distance, he smiled as he took in how completely beautiful she was. Her long brown hair, curled from where it had got wet in the rain the night before. The flowery patterned dress she was wearing flattering every curve of her body as she sat there staring at the historic buildings around her, the small fountain in the background just making the image even more perfect. Slipping his phone out, he took a quick photo wanting to keep the image with him forever before walking behind her, smiling as he touched her shoulders causing her to jump as she turned around and laughed.

"If I had my gun on me Rick you'd be dead right now" she laughed as he smiled and passed her the small bouquet of flowers he'd bought her. "They're beautiful Rick" she stated as she slowly took hold of them and smiled, taking in the scent of them with her eyes shut, the image shocking him as he watched. Taking in how completely beautiful she was. "They're all my favourites as well, how did you know that?" she asked.

"I just have a really good idea of what you like Kate" he whispered as she leaned forward and kissed him slowly, her free arm wrapping around his neck, keeping her close. Hearing her phone ring, she moved away before groaning as she took it out of her back.

"Beckett" she asked before going silent, shock covering her face. "Lanie?" she whispered as she moved away from him, turning so her back was to him, a smile creeping onto his face. Watching her as she stood there on the phone, her voice almost silent until she put the phone back into bag and smiled at him.

"What was that about?" he asked as she smiled.

"About the fact a certain Castle rang her and Esposito to ask about me" she declared. "She wanted to have a proper chat about it but when I told her I was with you she said she'd call me in the morning and we'd talk then" she whispered as he smiled and kissed her gently. "Rick I'm knackered could we go back to the hotel?" she mumbled as she ran her fingers up his cheek. "And you look exhausted".

"It might actually give me some time to work on another book" he whispered as she smiled. "I could at least try".

"Yeah" she mumbled as they slowly walked towards the hotel together, still taking in the sights while his arms remained around her.

XOXOXOXXO

Opening her eyes, she sighed as she sat up slowly and stared at the other bed to see it empty. Sighing, she looked around to see him sat at the desk, his laptop open and on revealing a blank word document.

"Rick" she whispered causing him to turn around and smile at her, watching as she patted the bed beside her indicating that she wanted him to come over to join her, a small smile creeping onto both their faces as he climbed out of the bed. Slipping onto the bed beside her, he sighed as she lay on her side next to him, her hands resting on his chest. "Tell me what you're thinking right now".

"That I've lost the writer in me, that I honestly can't think of anything anymore and that I've got the most beautiful woman next to me and I'm moaning" he mumbled as she sighed and moved closer to him, her head looking up at his, her lips slowly moving up against his jaw as she began to kiss his jaw slowly.

"Let's go to dinner, give you some time to think" she whispered as he nodded and climbed off the bed, looking back down to see her lying on the bed smiling at him. "You might get some ideas" she asked as he nodded and watched her climb off the bed and walk over to him, her hands running through his hair. "Let's go to dinner" she mumbled as she found her shoes and slipped them onto her feet before leading him towards the door, a smile on her face as he sighed. If writers block brought him Kate, he would have it more often however much it killed him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Once again thank you for all your amazing reviews again! You really are the best readers in the world; I couldn't imagine writing anymore without your comments! Although when I get in trouble for not yet learning my French for next Monday I shall remember all the lovely things you said to cheer me up!**

"Katherine Beckett would you dance with me?" he asked as she slipped out of the hotel's en-suite dressed in the black nightgown she wore to bed, a smile covering her face as she stared at the man in front of her, dressed in his star wars pyjamas with music playing from his phone. Holding his hand out, he smiled as she grasped hold of it and felt herself being pulled into his arms, a laugh leaving her lips as they began to move to the music.

"I can't believe I'm dancing with my favourite writer while he's dressed in star wars pyjamas, I didn't even think of this in my wildest dreams" she laughed as he smiled at her, pressing a kiss against his forehead slowly.

"No what I'd give to be able to know what runs through your head while your dreaming" he laughed as she smiled at him and moved herself closer to him.

"You'd love to know, they'd really drive you crazy" she whispered onto his lips before kissing him. "Now I'm going to sleep, thank you for taking me to dinner and then dancing in a way" she mumbled as he smiled, watching her creep over to the bed she'd chosen before climbing into it. "I do love the pyjamas Rick, show sex appeal so much".

"I know" he laughed as she smiled at him. Staring at him from the bed, she sighed before patting the space beside her gently. "What?" he asked.

"Sleep with me again" she mumbled, her cheeks burning red from embarrassment. "Sleep with me Rick".

"Kate, there's no way both of us are going to sleep well on a single bed" he laughed as she climbed out of the bed. "And we can't put the beds together, they're glued down" he declared as she grabbed her duvet off the bed and chucked it on the floor before lying on top of it. "What are doing Kate?" he asked.

"Get yours and chuck me the cushions" she announced causing him to smile as he chucked them at her, one hitting her in the face causing her to throw it back at him. Throwing it at her once more, he laughed as she grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled him down causing him to land on top of her, his knees either side of her thighs. Pressing her lips up against his, she smiled as his hand touched the bottom of her dress, a smile appearing on her face as he began to run his fingers under it. "Not yet" she mumbled as he stared at her. "Don't ruin this Rick by rushing it" she whispered as he nodded and moved away, pulling his blanket down on top of them.

"Sorry" he whispered as she turned to look at him, her hand reaching up to touch his cheek.

"No, I'm sorry, it's just been a while for me and well the last time I did have sex wasn't under the best of terms" she mumbled causing him to stare at her. "I don't want to talk about mine and Josh's sex life while I'm with you" she whispered. "It doesn't matter Rick".

"It matters to me, I want to know everything that happened so I can help and make everything better for you" he whispered as she sighed, her eyes shutting slowly.

"My plan of just going to sleep isn't going to work is it?" she asked causing him to shake his head, a laugh escaping from both of them as she sighed and laid back, staring up at the ceiling. "When I was better after losing the baby we decided we were going to keep trying for another one, we were so desperate to be parents and I thought it would save our marriage so every night we'd have sex" she whispered as he stared at her.

"See many people would think that's great, having sex everyday" he laughed as she rolled her eyes and stared at him.

"But it became such a chore, I would come home an hour after him, we'd have dinner, have sex and then do whatever we wanted, normally I would have a shower and change for bed before sitting and reading my book while he would go and watch television, normally he'd fall asleep on the sofa and I would leave in the morning to go to work, our only connection for about seven months was sex and dinner" she whispered as he stared at her.

"That man was an idiot, not seeing what a life he could have had with you" he whispered as she sighed. "Kate that man wanted you to just have his children, I want so much more than that from you" he declared as she smiled and kissed him, moving closer into his arms as he smiled. He loved the smell of cherries that filled the air whenever he was around her and the way his heart beat faster whenever she was near to him. "If we ever get like that, if we ever get into a routine like that, hit me until I'm bruised all over" he laughed.

"I'll remember that" she whispered as she touched his cheek. "But I don't think we'll ever turn out like that, one you're not organised enough to stick to a schedule and two you're far too interesting to be like that" she announced before kissing him slowly. "And if you ever make me say that again I will shoot you".

"There's the famous Beckett insult that I've missed over the years" he laughed as she smiled and kissed him gently. "God I've missed you threatening to shoot me for no reason".

"Well sometimes you really did deserve it" she announced as he shrugged.

"If you say so Beckett, if you say so" he laughed as she shut her eyes and rested her head against his chest, enjoying the feeling of warmth that came from this body. "Night" he whispered onto her head before kissing her hair gently. "Cherries" he laughed as she smiled both of them glad that that part of her hadn't changed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow thank you so much for the response. I've never really written a story like this before so hearing your comments saying that it's good really improves my confidence in writing. Also thank you to silvanalino for the email which I greatly appreciated. Anyway I hope you continue to enjoy and review! **

Groaning, she rolled over into the space she'd thought would be occupied by the man she'd fallen closely asleep with. The emptiness shocking her to wake up to see him sat at the desk again staring at his laptop once more, his hands running through his hair as he groaned. Standing up, she slowly walked up behind him and pressed her hands on his shoulders, feeling him jump underneath her, a small smile creeping onto her face as she slowly leant down and kissed his cheek.

"Come back to bed" she whispered into his ear causing him to groan as he continued to stare at the screen. Leaning over, she slowly shut the machine and slipped it further back on the desk before kissing his neck again, her hands returning to massage his shoulders. "Please" she added as he sighed and nodded, knowing Kate Beckett rarely said please. Slipping out of the chair, he remained silent as he allowed her to lead him back to the bed they'd made on the floor, a smile creeping onto the floor as she lay down on it and patted the space beside him, wanting him close to her again. Lying down, he felt her arm lie across his chest as she curled up against him.

"Why can't I do it Kate? I used to be able to do it all the time and now I struggle to write one sentence" he moaned, the frustration clear in his voice. Sitting up, she looked down at him before sighing. "It's going to say on my grave, here lies Richard Castle who used to be able to write but couldn't in the end" he moaned causing her to hit him gently.

"Don't you dare say that Rick, don't you dare give up on what you do best" she announced as she looked down at him. "You're the most amazing writer on this planet Richard Castle and I refuse to watch you just give up, you're going to write something amazing your just forcing it" she whispered as he smiled, realising finally how much of a big fan Kate Beckett actually was. "You can't just give up when inspiration is low" she mumbled before lying down next to him. The two of them staring at each other for a moment before she slowly kissed him, his arms wrapping around her as they rolled over so she was lying underneath him, their lips remaining together to be interrupted by her phone. "That will be Lanie" she whispered as he groaned and moved off her, lying back on the floor slowly as he watched her grab her phone from the side and sneak off into the bathroom with it, the two of them knowing he would listen in otherwise.

XOXOXOXO

Sitting against the bath, she sighed as she answered the phone, bringing it to her ear slowly.

"Hey Lanie" she mumbled causing the other woman to laugh slowly. "Lanie you better have actually called me and not have knocked it while doing things with Esposito because that's just disgusting" Kate declared causing Lanie to laugh again.

"That's disgusting that you're even thinking thoughts like that" Lanie announced as Kate rolled her eyes, a smile creeping onto her face. "No we're just watching old baby films of Esposito that his mom brought round, their hysterical" Lanie laughed as Kate heard Esposito comment in the background. "Anyway we're not talking about me and Esposito are we Kate?"

"It's like nothing's changed" Kate mumbled as she sighed. "Yes I'm with Rick" she whispered, the sound of her friend squealing down the phone causing her to laugh.

"Does that mean you guys are finally together? Did it really take you getting married to realise that you loved someone else?" Lanie asked as Kate shut her eyes for a moment. "Sorry that was a bad thing to bring up" she whispered.

"It's fine, I've got to get used to it" Kate mumbled as she sighed slowly. "But yeah, we're sort of together but I'm not completely sure what we are" Kate admitted, knowing if anyone could sort her out it would be Lanie.

"How can you not be sure what you are?" Lanie asked, her eyes rolling slowly as she thought about how stupid her friend actually was when it came to men. "Have you guys slept together?"

"In what context do you mean sleeping?" Kate asked, knowing Lanie was thinking about sex.

"In what context are you doing it?" Lanie asked as Kate smiled.

"We're sleeping together; you know pyjamas, bed, cuddling. We haven't done _that _yet" she mumbled, her voice squeaking the word that out as Lanie laughed. "It's not like I don't want to or anything it's just after everything with Josh, I'm not ready to have someone else you know" Kate mumbled, the nervousness in her voice shocking her friend.

"What the hell did that man do to you Kate?" she asked as Kate bit her lip. "Sorry, we'll talk about that when you're ready" Lanie whispered as Kate smiled. "I guess you just have to wait till you're ready, he's not forcing you is he?" Lanie asked.

"No" she declared in shock. "He's just sweet and really romantic Lanie, he bought me flowers and took me to dinner and we danced around our hotel room in our pyjamas" she whispered as she fiddled with a piece of her hair, feeling like a teenager with her first crush again. "And we kissed in Paris and he told me he loved me by the Eiffel Tower" she whispered.

"Sounds brilliant" Lanie announced, glaring around to look at the man sitting beside her on the sofa who was fast asleep. "Wish Javier would do stuff like that once in a while" she hissed before hitting him, laughing as he sat up.

"Stop beating Esposito up Lanie, he's exhausted I bet" Kate laughed as she crept towards the door and opened it to see Rick fast asleep on the floor. "I better go, I have a gorgeous writer in star wars pyjamas waiting" she whispered as Lanie coughed.

"Star wars pyjamas?" Lanie asked as Kate smiled.

"I'll explain later" Kate laughed before hearing a groan and the line go dead. Putting the phone down, she sighed before lying down on the floor beside him, his arms wrapping around her as she shut her eyes. "I love you Rick".

"I love you too" he mumbled, his reply shocking her as they lay there in a now comfortable silence.

XOXOXOXO

Packing her bag later that morning, she smiled as he walked out of the shower dressed only in his boxers, water dripping down his chest from his soaked hair.

"Very attractive" she laughed as he looked up at her and smiled, his cheeks burning red as he took in what she'd said. Creeping over, she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the end of his nose. "To think I could have seen this earlier" she mumbled.

"Well, if you'd have asked I would have walked around the precinct dressed like this for you" he laughed as she smiled. "But you would have to walk around in your underwear too" he whispered before kissing her as she rolled her eyes, a small smile creeping back onto her face after she'd frowned at him. "So explore for a bit, eat more chocolate and then go?" he asked causing her to nod as she moved away from him. "How was the chat with Lanie?" he asked.

"It was good, it felt like nothing had changed" she whispered before sitting down on the now made bed. "I know one day we're going to have to talk about what I did but right now, I'm just enjoying have my friends back although it might take a while to apologize to Ryan" she mumbled.

"Why? What did you do?" he asked.

"Pulled my gun on him" she whispered, looking down at the floor as she said it. "He made me angry, I got defensive and pulled it out on him, sort of had it forced off me by Esposito who was already angry with me".

"Wow Kate, you were really messed up" he announced in shock, a smile creeping onto her face as she nodded.

"I know I just wish I'd had you there to tell me that at the time" she mumbled as he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her slowly. "I just wish you'd been to help me up once I'd fallen down".

"Wonderfully poetic there Kate" he whispered, groaning as she hit him gently in the arm. "I'm just speaking the truth".

"Sometimes you really need to keep those things you think to yourself Rick, might come in useful one day" she announced as he stood up.

"I'll remember that" he declared before kissing her forehead and walking over to where his clothes were laid out. "But I don't think I'll stick to it" he added, gaining a quick roll of the eyes before he began to get dressed.


	14. Chapter 14

**This chapter starts off a bit silly but its Richard Castle we're talking about, he's a child still! I don't why but I don't like this chapter and I don't think I did Alexis to character at all but I tried. Anyway I hope you enjoy it and thank you once again for the amazing reviews. **

"Don't you dare Rick" she hissed as he dragged her into the city centre, a smile covering his face as he watched the hundreds of people walk past him chatting to his partners. "Rick if you do it I'll never forgive you Rick" she announced causing him to shrug before standing on the side of the fountain, her eyes shutting to stop herself from watching him make an idiot of himself like she knew he was going to .

"I Richard Castle love Katherine Beckett very much" he shouted, causing everyone to turn around and look at him as Kate's eyes remained shut. "She's perfect and I never want to live a day without her" he laughed as he looked down to see her with her eyes shut. "Because I love her and have done since the day we met even though she arrested me and refused to go out with me because it's unprofessional" he laughed, the sound of people gossiping filling the air as Kate opened her eyes, her head shaking as he smiled. The smile quickly being washed away as he lost his footing and fell backwards into the fountain, the sound of laughter replacing the gossiping of a few moments ago, a smile finally creeping onto Kate's face as she walked over to see him sitting there.

"I told you not to do it Rick, didn't I?" she commented as he rolled his eyes and held his hand out for her. Grabbing it, she sighed as she slowly helped him out of the water and stared at the drenched man in front of her. "You idiot" she laughed before he smiled, his arms wrapping around her as she screamed at how cold he was.

"Well I wanted the world to know how much I love you" he announced, a smile remaining on her face as she stared at him. "And being who I am I had to tell everyone in the most extreme way" he whispered before kissing her, a small cheer coming from the crowd causing Kate to move away slowly and look down at her feet. "Kate, no one here knows you, its fine honestly".

"But some might know you and I don't want that sort of publicity Rick, you might not be top news right now but your still a bit of it" she whispered, his hand running to her cheek slowly. "I just don't want this to be ruined yet because I love it just being me and you".

"Kate Beckett, nothing is going to ruin this I promise" he declared as she nodded slowly and kissed him. "And anyone who tries too won't know what's hit them" he whispered as they slowly moved apart, his arm remaining wrapped around her hips as she continued to smile at him.

XOXOXOXO

Sitting in the back of the car, he smiled as he held her close to him with one arm, her head resting against his shoulder as she lay there fast asleep, the sound of her breathing relaxing him as they sat there in practically complete silence. Hearing his phone ring, he groaned as he slipped it out of his pocket and pressed it against his ear, sighing before he talked.

"Castle" he whispered as he heard the sound of classical music playing in the background. "Alexis is that you?" he asked, recognizing the piece of music as one of Alexis' favourite compositions.

"Yeah, hi dad, I just thought I'd call because you haven't called me" Alexis smiled as he sighed, enjoying the sound of his daughters voice even if it was down the phone. "How's Europe?" she asked.

"It's great, I bumped into a blast from the past in Paris and we're travelling together now" he declared causing Alexis to smile. "Yeah, you'll remember her well I hope".

"Her? Oh god dad what are you doing?" Alexis asked, the sound of suspicion in her voice causing him to smile as he looked down at the woman who was fast asleep in his arms.

"Yeah, a Detective called Katherine Beckett" he smiled causing Alexis to gasp as he laughed.

"You met Kate, wow, how is she? How's her marriage? Does she have any kids yet?" she asked causing Rick to laugh as he rolled his eyes slowly. "Come on dad, it's been two years since I've seen her, how is she?" she asked.

"Divorced, childless, banned from the job for a while because of her behaviour" he declared causing Alexis to go silent for a moment. "Alexis are you okay?" he asked after a while.

"Is she okay though? Nothing bad happened did it? He didn't hurt her did he?" she asked, her concern bringing a smile onto his face as he realised how much his daughter cared about Kate.

"Kate's fine darling, I promise, she was excited to hear about your schooling and everything, I guess she'll want to see you when we get back" he declared as he felt Kate move in his arms, her eyes opening as she looked up at him and smiled. "Actually she's awake now if you want to talk to her" he smiled as Alexis laughed.

"Yes please" Alexis declared as Rick handed the phone quickly to Kate who stared at him for a moment before bringing it up to her ear.

"Hello" she mumbled exhaustion clear in her voice as she sat up and groaned, blinking a couple of times to try and wake herself up.

"Hi Detective Beckett" Alexis declared, the sound of her voice bringing a smile to Kate's face as she relaxed in the seat.

"Alexis, wow hello" Kate smiled. "How's school?"

"It's good, I heard you're travelling with dad" the teenager commented, the happiness in her voice removing any bad thoughts that were running through her head. "He isn't being too annoying is he?"

"I'm coping" she said as she smiled at the man who was sitting next to her, staring at her. "No he's being extremely good except for the fact he fell into a fountain this morning in front of the whole of Belgium's city centre" she laughed as Alexis groaned. "Other than that he's great".

"Well I'm glad, look I've got to go because of work" Alexis whispered. "I'll talk to you soon Kate, look after dad he's been a mess since you left" she mumbled as Kate smiled.

"Okay Alexis, bye" Kate replied before the line went dead. Putting the phone down, she smiled as she turned to look at Rick. "She's a clever girl, your extremely lucky Rick to have a child like that".

"I know, I don't know where she got it from" he whispered before kissing her gently. "But I love her so much".

"I can understand why, she's perfect" she mumbled as he sighed and nodded. Thinking about how he had the most perfect women in his life. He had the perfect bright daughter who was funny and kept him in control and the perfect woman to love who was funny and beautiful but also kind and considerate and he was glad that he had them.


	15. Chapter 15

**Right Pre Warning they are going to Germany and I have only been to Germany once but it was the most recent of my trips with the school so it's sort of fresh in my memory but I was on a history tour of the Nazi's so I spent a lot of time in concentration camps so I might not describe it the best, so apologizes in advanced. I really should visit more countries before writing a story about them, it might help! Anyway once again thank you for your wonderful reviews; they really do bring happiness into my life as my GCSE's started today and now life is full of boring revision! Anyway this update is really short but I thought it was a good place to leave it. **

Watching him as he drove down the road, she smiled as he began to slowly hum along to the radio, a smile creeping onto his face as she joined in with him. Her hand reaching over to touch his as he sighed, enjoying having some contact with her again after spending so long with her sat on the end the far end of her seat.

"It's beautiful" she mumbled as she stared out at the buildings around them, enjoying the sights before her. "Thank you for all this Rick, I'd never have got to experience this if it wasn't for you" she added before leaning over and pressing a kiss against his cheek, her lips moving gently against his skin as he tried hard to concentrate on the empty road in front of them. "You really are the most amazing guy ever" she mumbled into his ear as she began to play with the bottom of his shirt with her fingers.

"Kate stop it, I'll end up crashing into a tree or something" he moaned as she laughed. "You can laugh now but when we end up buried in the ground because you stopped me concentrating then you'll regret laughing at me" he commented as she smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Well at least I'll die happy" she whispered before he sighed and felt her move away, relaxing back in her seat as she sat down and stared at him, biting into her lip as she always did when she was nervous. Hearing her phone ring, she stared down at her bag before pulling it out, not even bothering to look at the caller ID. "Beckett" she mumbled before going silent, gaining Rick's attention at the awkward silence that filled the car. Remaining in silence as she listened to every word her caller hissed at her, she sighed before closing her eyes and opening, allowing herself time to think about her reply. "I told you I never wanted to hear from you again, now leave me alone" she hissed before hanging up and flinging the phone back into her bag, her hands running through her hair as she groaned.

"Kate? Want to talk about it?" he asked as she sighed, her eyes shutting slowly as she tried to think about to explain what had just happened.

"Josh just called Rick" she mumbled causing him to groan as he slowly pulled over knowing that she needed to explain.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you once again for your amazing reviews I love them. In answer to 's question I'm taking English, Maths, Science, Business Studies, Religious Studies, Late History, Drama and French. Sorry it has taken a while to update (in comparison to how much I update normally), with coursework and my birthday party last night it's hard finding time to think about things! And the place mentioned in this I found on the internet but it's so beautiful that I had to use this for the story, so I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to anyone's actual experiences of it but I've never been there personally. **

Staring at her as she sat there and stared out of the window, he watched for an idea of what was going through her head. Leaning over, he slowly took hold of her hand and stroked it with his fingers, desperately trying to ease away the things that were in her mind. Watching a tear sneak down her cheek, he continued to hold onto her hand a little tighter, wanting to end her tears and make her smile again. Climbing out of the car, she sighed before starting to walk down the road slightly, this shocking him as he sped out of the car and ran over to join her.

"Kate talk to me" he whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. "Don't block me out again Kate, don't go back there" he begged causing her to slowly stop and burst into tears. Walking over, he sighed as she flung her arms around his neck and buried her head against his chest, her tears chilling him. "Don't build that wall up please" he mumbled onto her head while keeping her close, needing to be the arms of comfort for a moment even if she didn't want them. Feeling her relax a few moments later, he slowly led her towards the car, opening the back door to allow her to sit in the vehicle before he crept over to the other side, climbing in slowly to see her sat with her arms now wrapped around her knees, her forehead resting against them. "What did he say Kate?"

"It doesn't matter" she whispered as she turned her head to look at him. "It doesn't matter anymore, it just proves that he'll never leave me alone, no matter how far away I go" she mumbled before he moved towards her and sighed, reaching out to take hold of her hand. Moving her arms from around her knees, she slowly crawled next to him and sighed as she rested her head on his lap, her eyes shutting slowly.

"He'll never come near you Kate, he'll never be a part of your life again I promise" he whispered as he took hold of her hand slowly and stroked her knuckles gently with his fingers. "He's not here Kate, he's not even close, it's still just you and me Kate, nothing's going to change that" he mumbled as she listened, her eyes remaining shut as she sighed.

"He just called me and started hissing abuse at me, screaming things at me because he's drunk; he was telling me how I was disgusting and not even decent enough in bed to use for sex, he was telling me the things he wanted to do to me and they were horrid Rick and he just wouldn't shut up" she sobbed as she turned so she was looking up at him. Looking down at her, he sighed before leaning down and pressing his lips against hers, feeling her weak underneath them and not deepening it. Moving away, he sighed before moving the hair away from her face. "Promise me right now that you'll never leave me Rick, whatever happens you'll never leave me".

"Kate I love you, I never wanted to leave you in the first place I just couldn't stay there with you married to him, with him taking you away from me forever" he mumbled as she slowly sat up, sitting herself on his lap as he wrapped an arm slowly around. "But I promise I will never leave you again, I would spend the rest of my life with you Kate if it makes you happy".

"I'd like that" she whispered before kissing him slowly. "I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you, because for the first time in my life I feel safe when I wake up because your there holding me".

"I love you" he whispered as she smiled, her eyes slowly shutting as she relaxed in his arms, enjoying the security it gave her.

XOXOXOXO

"Rick where are we?" she asked as he led her down the path, his hands covering her eyes as he continued to guide her before stopping and sighing. They had found themselves a small hotel in Berlin and had booked into a room for a couple of nights before Rick had left her alone to go and find out something. This something however had Kate worried. "Richard Castle if you don't tell me where we are…" she began before he slowly slipped his hands away, allowing her to see the sight in front of her, the image in front of her silencing her in shock. Staring, she watched as she took in the tulips and other flowers surrounding her, a smile covering her face as she turned to look at him. Wrapping her arms quickly around him, she pressed her lips against his and smiled as they slowly moved away from each other. "It's beautiful Rick".

"I have to agree but it's not as beautiful as you" he mumbled onto her lips before she kissed him again, her hands running through his hair as they stood there, their lips joined, neither of them paying any attention to the people around them. Running his hands down her back, he linked them between her hips, keeping her close as she moved away slightly and looked down before laughing. "Welcome to the Britzer Garten Kate" he whispered as she moved away and continued to look around. Sliding her hand into his, he sighed as they began to walk down the path, her head quickly resting against his shoulder as they continued to walk in silence, enjoying the scenery around them for the moment. Finding a quiet area, he slowly pulled a blanket out of the bag he'd brought with them before lying it on the floor and smiling at her. Sitting herself own on the blanket, she smiled as he lay down next to her and sighed. "Come here" he whispered as she smiled and relaxed next to him, his arm wrapping around her.

"Tell me about your childhood Rick" she whispered as he raised his eyebrows and sighed, trying to think about what to tell her.

"I spent a lot of time backstage of theatres because of mum's job and I loved to read and write as a child so I haven't changed that might, I didn't have a father around but I had my imagination to keep me happy and I was just happy" he explained as she smiled, thinking about a young Rick sat backstage while his mother was working, buried in a book without a care in the world. "I wasn't brilliant at school but I wasn't completely useless, whatever you might think now Kate".

"I don't think your useless Rick, I don't think you're even close to being useless actually" she whispered before kissing him. "I think you're extraordinary actually" she mumbled before they both laughed, the two of them turning to lie on their sides so they were staring at each other.

"You're the extraordinary one here Kate" he whispered before kissing her, their bodies moving so he was now on his back while she was resting over him, neither of their lips moving away as they continued to deepen the kiss. Moving away slightly, she laughed before pressing her forehead against his, staring into his blue eyes as a smile remained on her face.

"I love you" she mumbled as he watched her, searching for a hint of what was running through her mind in her face. "I've loved you since day one and I was scared Rick, I was so scared that you'd break my heart. But I'm not scared anymore" she whispered as she ran her fingers down his chest. "I'm not scared to have you love me now".

"What?" he asked causing her to bite her lip before giggling and sitting up, her back to him as she continued to smile at the flowers and further away the water ahead of her. "Kate what do you mean?" he asked as she turned her head to looked at him.

"I'm not going to tell you Richard" she whispered before lying down and resting her lips just above his. "You have to work it out yourself" she mumbled onto his mouth before smiling and moving away. "Let's just hope you work it out before I change my mind".


	17. Chapter 17

**Yes I've updated finally! I'm not happy with this but this is what my mind is telling me to write and I must obey my mind. Hopefully you enjoy it and review like you always do. **

"Are you going to tell me now?" he asked as they walked up the stairs towards their hotel room, a smile covering her face as she quickly unlocked the door and stared at him. "Please Kate" he begged before she rolled her eyes and quickly wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him close to her before she kissed him, his arms wrapping around her as he walked forward, kicking the door shut quickly behind him. His lips not moving off hers as they moved towards the bed. Falling down, she laughed as he continued to kiss down her neck, his hands running down her hips, taking in the feeling of her under his hands.

"I love you" she sighed as he continued to kiss one spot of her neck, his hands moving towards the buttons of her outfit. "I love you Rick" she continued to repeat as he laughed onto her skin before he slipped her out of her clothes slowly, a smile covering his face as he took in the sight before him.

"You're stunning, how could he not appreciate what he had when he was with you? You're everything a man could ever want from a woman Kate" he whispered onto her skin as she rolled her eyes and sat up, touching his chin to move his head up so she could look at him. "What?" he asked as she leant down and kissed him slowly.

"If we're going to do this Rick, promise me we'll not mention Josh again" she begged as he stared at her and nodded quickly. "He's not my life anymore, you've finally replaced him like you should have done at the start" she laughed as he leant down so she was lying underneath him once more. Leaning up, she pressed his lips against him slowly and sighed. "Rick, make love to me that's all I want now" she mumbled. "Make love to me like we should have done years ago" she mumbled as he nodded and smiled while her hands ran down to his pants, starting something she'd dreamt about for so many years.

XOXOXOXO

Moving away from her slowly, he looked down to see her staring up at him, her hand slowly slipping up to touch his cheek, her fingers running across his jaw line slowly. Leaning down, he slowly pressed his lips against her, smiling as she moved with him, their lips dancing together as her hands wrapped around his neck and she pulled him down closer to her.

"Never leave me Rick" she whispered onto his lips as they moved away from each other slowly, their eyes staring into each other's with affection and love and want. "Don't go away again" she mumbled as he sighed and rolled onto his side, the two of them now staring at each other as he pulled the blanket over the two of them so they were buried underneath it.

"Everywhere you go Kate, I'll go to" he mumbled before he took hold of her hand and clung onto it in desperation. "I promise, we've wasted so many years that I refuse to waste anymore" he declared as she sighed, moving her body closer to his so her head was pressed against his chest, their arms wrapping around each other so they were both safe in each other's presence.

"Ever since I was a teenager, I've dreamt of having someone love me for being just me, who wants me because of who I am not just because they need something from me" she announced as he stared at her. "Your that someone Rick and I never thought honestly when I first met you that I'd end up naked in bed with you after having the best sex I've ever had in my life" she laughed before leaning over and kissing him. "I love you".

"Not as much as I love you beautiful" he whispered before rolling onto his back, her hands resting on his chest as she lay her head down on them, staring up at him as he sighed and slipped his hand to her chest. "Where are you living in New York?" he asked as she rolled her eyes and groaned.

"With my dad" she whispered before sighing. "I need to find myself an apartment when I get back".

"I know one that might fit what you want" he whispered as she raised her eyebrows. "It's extremely big and spacious and the home to an extraordinary teenager and her ruggedly handsome father" he announced as she stared at him in complete shock. "There's a room you could have which is just down the corridor from said ruggedly handsome father which you can sneak down to come and have some late night rendezvous' when everyone's gone to bed" he laughed as she continued to stare at him, her whole body and mind filled with shock.

"You want me to move in with you?" she asked as he nodded and smiled down at her. "You actually want me to move in with you Rick" she laughed before lying back and laughing, a smile covering her face as she stared up at the ceiling, her mind running through ideas and plans. She needed somewhere to go, she couldn't stay with her father forever but moving in with Rick was fast and a big step however much she loved him. "Let me think about it Rick, I just need some time" she whispered as he nodded and leant over to kiss her cheek. "However I really do appreciate the offer, it's just a lot to take in".

"Don't worry about giving me an answer, you can have however long as you want Kate because it's just perfect "he whispered before she sighed and relaxed into him. "I guess we're not going anywhere for the rest of the day" he mumbled into her hair as he held her close to him.

"Why? Do you want to?" she asked before he shook his head and sighed.

"I just wanted to know, so I can think about all the wonderful things we can do tonight Kate" he smiled before kissing her. "I've had you now and I don't think I'm going to want to ever stop" he laughed as she rolled her eyes, reminding him of all the reasons he fell in love with her originally and all the new ones that were forming around them.


	18. Chapter 18

**I just want to say to anyone who read the chapter I put up as chapter eighteen, I was being very stupid and put the chapter for Understanding on here instead! Anyway here's the real chapter and I hope you enjoy it. **

Opening her eyes, she heard the sound of tapping, a smile creeping on her face as she sat up, holding the blankets around her chest as she stared at the man who was sat typing away at the laptop. Climbing out of the bed, she slipped on his shirt and walked towards him, her hands sliding to his shoulders as she massaged them slowly. Her lips pressing gently to his neck as she smiled at him, reading over his shoulders at the document up on the computer.

"It's amazing, did you get some inspiration then?" she whispered onto his cheek as he nodded and turned to look at her, pulling her over the chair slowly into his lap as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"I did from an amazing and extremely sexy woman who defiantly knows how to make one man in particular drop to his knees and give in to anything" he announced onto her lips before kissing her. "And your extremely gorgeous in my shirt Kate, you should keep it" he laughed as she smiled and traced her fingers along his jaw line.

"I think Mr Castle, soon to be the best seller murder mystery novelist he was a few years ago, you should take me back to bed" she whispered as she leant in and kissed his bare neck. "Because you've written one hot chapter and I think you need some more inspiration for a second" she continued to tease as he watched her, his hand running slowly up her back, bringing the shirt up with them to pull it off. Dropping it to the floor, he stared at her as she wrapped her arms around her chest, covering herself up slightly.

"Hey don't cover up Kate, your stunning" he whispered onto her lips before kissing her slowly, their lips moving in perfect sync. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her back towards the bed and lay her down amongst the white covers, smiling down at her slowly. "God I've dreamt about this for so long, it's hard to believe that your actually here" he laughed as she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him down to her. Her lips pressing against his to touch and explore, to express everything that she needed to express.

"Love me Rick" she mumbled as they parted slowly, their eyes staring into the seas of blue and green, his hands running across her skin gently as she continued to smile at him. Leaning towards her, he smiled as she giggled gently and kissed the tip of his nose, a large smile covering her face before her phone started to ring. "You're joking, that's not fair" she moaned before rolling over to grab it. "Yes" she hissed down the phone.

"I can see that I've interrupted something and I really hope it's not what I think" Lanie laughed down the phone as Kate's cheeks started to burn red, Rick's lips lowering onto her skin slowly as she bit her lip.

"No, your fine, we weren't doing anything like that" she laughed before hitting him gently as he moaned and lay himself next to her, his fingers drawing patterns onto her stomach as she giggled lightly. "We were just watching a film".

"Kate Beckett I'm not stupid, you were about to have sex and I called at the wrong time, why didn't you just ignore the phone like normal people would do?" she laughed as Kate's cheeks continued to get even more red.

"Habit, so did you want anything important Lanie?" Kate asked as Rick buried his head into the pillows. "You've completely destroyed the mood now" she laughed as he groaned even more, pulling the blanket up over his whole body so he was completely hidden from sight. "You have however long as you want Lanie, Rick's been extremely childish".

"No change there then" her friend laughed as she smiled down at the man buried under the blankets. "So how's Paris?" she asked, her voice full of excitement.

"We're not in Paris anymore, we're in Germany now" Kate explained as she looked around the hotel room and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. "It's amazing though Lanie, absolutely beautiful, I've never enjoyed myself this much and Rick's been so unlike the Rick I thought he was although his childish behaviour is still here".

"So are you serious now?" she asked as Kate slowly stared at the man who was lying next to her. "Kate?"

"Sorry give me a second, there are some conversations Mr Childish shouldn't listen in to" she explained before slipping off the bed and into the bathroom. "I think we are pretty serious now Lanie he's asked me to move in with him when we get back to New York".

"Wow Kate, and what did you say? Please tell me you said yes Kate, you've spent years waiting for him to make a move" Lanie asked as Kate ran her fingers through her hair, staring at herself in the mirror.

"I told him I'd think about it Lanie" Kate whispered as Lanie groaned. "I'm not sure whether I'm ready to let him in that much".

"Katherine Beckett, ever since you met Rick you knew he was the man you were supposed to be with, when you married Josh we all knew you were making a mistake but we couldn't stop you Kate and the whole way through your marriage to him we watched you stare at the door waiting for Rick to come in and the disappointment across your face every time you went home without seeing him" Lanie explained as Kate sighed and nodded to herself. "Kate you've been in love with him for so long I wouldn't be surprised if you were having children and getting married in under a year" she laughed as Kate bit her lip. "Look speaking of children I've got to go, my lot are waking up".

"Tell Esposito I say hi" she laughed before Lanie laughed and whispered her goodbyes, quickly hanging up before Kate sighed and stood up, walking towards the door slowly. Opening it, she stared at him and sighed as he sat up and smiled at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked as she stared at him and smiled. "Kate".

"I want to move in with you Rick" she declared as he smiled and got out of the bed quickly walking over to her, his arms wrapping around her. "But I don't think I can".


	19. Chapter 19

**A small chapter but I hope it explains a little more about what's going on with Kate. Anyway I hope you continue to review and enjoy it as that's what I write for. **

Moving away from her slowly, he walked towards the window and stared out at the city in front of him as she crept up behind him and stared at him. She knew he was upset. It was clear to anyone who saw him that what she'd originally said had excited him and then he'd thrown it back in his face which she immediately regretted. She loved him and hated the fact she could hurt him so easily because of how she'd ended up being hurt by the last man she'd let into her life. She was afraid. She was afraid moving in would mean her dream of loving him would come quickly to an end.

"Rick listen, it's not you, and this has got nothing to do with you I promise" she mumbled before kissing his shoulder blades slowly. "I just need some time to think about everything, I'm not ready to just move in with someone else so soon after being with Josh for two years" she declared as he nodded quickly, her hands running slowly up his back. "By the time we get back to New York, I'll probably have moved in anyway" she whispered before kissing his back once more. "I just need time to think about everything because this is something I'm not going to ruin by taking things too fast because I have loved you since day one Rick" she explained as he turned to look at her, slowly kissing her and wrapping his arms around her.

"I understand" he mumbled onto her lips as they stared into each other's eyes. "I really do understand and I'm sorry for pushing you, I didn't have the right" he whispered as she nodded slowly and smiled, her arms wrapping around him as he continued to hold her close to him. "When you're ready tell me and we'll do it, just when you're ready" he whispered into her hair as she sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying feeling him close to her again. "I love you Kate".

"I love you too" he whispered as she smiled up at him and touched his cheek. Hearing his phone ring, he groaned, slipping away from her slowly to grab his phone and bring it close to him. "Castle" he sighed into it before a smile appeared onto his face. "Hi Alexis, no you didn't interrupt anything" he laughed as he walked over to the bed and stared at the woman who remained at the window. He hadn't known anything more beautiful than a barely dressed Kate Beckett staring out of the window, looking out at the German capital city. "Sorry darling, I am listening to you, I'm just admiring the sites Germany has on offer" he smiled as Kate turned quickly and watched him wink at her, her eyes rolling quickly. "No, I don't think I've ever seen anything as beautiful as what I'm looking at right now" he declared before going silent. "How did you know I was talking about Kate? You are getting far too clever" he laughed as Kate smiled and slowly sat herself beside him, resting her head onto his chest slowly while his fingers began to draw patterns on her thighs.

"Tell her I say hi" Kate mumbled quickly before kissing his chest lightly, a small smile appearing on his face as he continued to draw circles onto her skin.

"Kate says hi, she misses you as well and can't wait to see you when we get back to New York" he announced. "She's agreed to come out for dinner with us the first night we're home, we're going to go to that really posh and expensive Italian that we like and never get to go to anymore" he laughed as Kate glared up at him, punching his chest gently. "And we're going to dress up so Kate shall be wearing a dress Alexis, although you might have to help her there" he laughed as Kate sat up quickly. Pulling his back down into his arms, he rolled over so she was lying underneath him, staring up at him while he remained on the phone listening to his daughter. "That sounds great darling, don't make a reservation yet though because I don't know when I'll be home and it depends on you too" he laughed as Kate listened and heard Alexis mumble something in agreement. "Look I've got to go, I'm exhausted" he whispered before whispering his goodbyes and putting the phone down.

"Posh Italian Rick, really?" she asked before he kissed her, unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing slowly. "I don't want you spending your money on me Rick, that's not what I want from you and you know that".

"Of course I know that" he declared. "But it doesn't mean I'm not going to treat you once in a while when the opportunity appears" he laughed before kissing her slowly, a smile creeping onto her face as she stared at him and sighed, bringing him closer to her as her lips slowly slipped across his. "Now, I think we were getting somewhere before Lanie called earlier" he commented as she nodded.

"I think we were Rick" she laughed before kissing him gently and giggling.


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm not sure about the end of this chapter but I wanted to find a way of signifying Kate's improvement and how she's beginning to really let Rick into her life. I hope you enjoy it and continue to review. **

Staring at him as he lay there beside her, his eyes shut as her hand rested on his bare chest, watching the movement of it going up and down beneath her hand slowly. Moving closer to him for a moment, she slowly pressed her lips against his chest and felt the warmth of his body underneath her skin, the warmth of it drowning her in a love she didn't want to escape from. Opening his eyes, he looked down as he stared at the woman kissing his chest slowly, his fingers slowly running up her bare back, taking in the feel of her perfect skin under the tips of his fingers. Looking up slowly, she leant up and pressed a kiss against his jaw, a smile covering both their faces as they looked into each other's eyes, her hands quickly running through his hair as his wrapped around her waist. His thumbs stroking her skin slowly as she laughed at him, enjoying him touching her slowly.

"I love you" she mumbled as he leant up and kissed her, neither of them moving away for a few moments, just staring at each other. "Let's go out for dinner tonight" she whispered as he nodded and kissed her. "I'm starving, it's doing too much exercise without going out to eat at some point" she declared quickly before climbing out of bed, wrapping the sheet quickly around her as she walked towards her suitcase to get out some clothes. "Or we could share a shower" she suggested.

"I'd like that Miss Beckett, I'd really like that" he smiled before slipping out of the bed as well and leading her into the bathroom, holding onto her hand as he switched the shower on. Entering the small cubicle, he pulled her into his arms and held her close to him, his lips pressing slowly against her skin as she shut her eyes. Never in her life would she have imagined herself stood in the shower with Rick Castle kissing her after having sex all day. "You're thinking Kate" he whispered on her neck.

"Yes, I'm thinking about us" she sighed as his arms wrapped tighter around her, holding her close to him as he smiled. "About how everything has changed, how I just had sex with my favourite author and am now stood in a shower with him" she declared as he sighed and squeezed her slightly, a giggle slipping from her lips as he leant forward and kissed her cheek.

"Well I just had sex with my favourite detective, you can't beat that" he laughed as she smiled and turned around in his arms and looked at him, the water falling across her body increasing her beauty in his eyes. "I just had sex with the most beautiful woman and I don't think I'm ever going to let her out of my arms again so you can tell said lovely lady that she's stuck with me forever" he announced as she giggled lightly and kissed him, her hands running through his soaked hair.

"God you're even sexier when you're wet" she giggled lightly onto his lips as she smiled and laughed. "I'm amazed you were still single when we bumped into each other again, I thought some beautiful young woman would take you forever" she admitted as he sighed.

"Kate, the only woman I'd ever wanted was you and once I lost you I didn't want anyone else" he muttered before kissing her gently and sighing. "Now shower and then dinner" he ordered as she nodded and allowed him to run shampoo through her hair.

XOXOXOXO

Walking out of the restroom, he stared at her as she sat at the candlelit table staring out of the window. Her hair was curled gently and framing her face while the white dress she wore rested half way on her thigh and the top covered everything but left enough available for the imagination. Walking over, he smiled before sitting down and staring at her across the table, his hand reaching out to touch hers.

"You really are beautiful, every man in here can't take his eyes off you and I don't blame them, you're completely stunning" he admitted as she giggled lightly and stared at him.

"The only man that matters to me is you" she whispered before bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it gently. Smiling as the waitress walked over, they quickly paid the bill and slowly left the restaurant, arms wrapped tightly around each other's as they laughed their way down the street. Leaning forward, she slowly pressed her lips against his and smiled as he deepened the kiss they shared, her phone starting to ring as she groaned and pulled it out of her pocket. Opening it, she slowly removed the battery and ran over to the nearest fountain where he watched her.

"Kate what are you doing?" he asked as she smiled at him.

"No more interruptions, it's just you and me and nothing and no one else" she laughed before dropping it into the water, shock covering his face as she walked over and slipped the phone out of his pocket.

"Don't, what about Alexis?" he asked as she nodded slowly and turned it off before slipping it back into her pocket. "I can't believe you just threw your battery into a fountain" he laughed as she smiled.

"Richard Castle, there's no one on this planet that is more important that this" she explained before kissing him, her arm wrapping around his neck before she laughed.

"Who are you and what have you done with Beckett?" he asked as she touched his cheek and sighed. "Because whoever you are I love you and this part of the woman who I love more than anything in the world" he announced before she smiled and clung onto his hand, pulling herself close to him as they danced around slowly in the centre of the empty street, her head resting against his chest as they moved together in complete perfection, neither of them caring about the rest of the world.


	21. Chapter 21

**Another chapter! Once again thank you for all the reviews, I really do love everyone and I appreciate every single one I get. You guys really are amazing so thank you! **

"Rick there's something I want to do today" she announced as they walked down the street the following day, his arm wrapped tightly around her hips as they walked in complete sync and with the largest smiles on their face. To anyone who saw them they were clearly a couple who were completely in love with each other. "On my own" she added, this causing him to stop and stare at her, worry covering his face. "Don't worry it's nothing bad you'll love it, it's just I have to do this on my own and I thought you could perhaps go and get us lunch and meet me back here in an hour" she suggested, hoping he wouldn't try and get more out of her.

"Fine, what do you fancy for lunch then?" he asked before she shrugged and kissed him, her arms wrapping his neck slowly. "I'll just get a mix of stuff and we'll share amongst ourselves" he declared before she nodded and slipped out of his arms. "One hour Kate, back here, any moment later and I will go looking for you" laughed, her eyes rolling as she walked off down the road, smiling to herself, knowing he was going to like what she had planned however much she knew he didn't want to be away from her. It would be worth it.

Watching her walk away, he sighed as he turned around; thinking about what she might be up to. Everything was running through his head, a secret lover, a medical issue, his writer's imagination coming back to him as he watched her disappear around the corner. Sighing, he walked in the opposite direction to the way Kate had gone, knowing he should do what she said and get lunch and also knowing she would hate him if he followed her, however curious he was. Creeping down the road, he found a small shop to buy food from and stared down at his watch. Only fifty five minutes to go and then she'd be back in his arms! The only other thought running through his mind being when had they become so clingy to each other?

XOXOXOXO

"I missed you today" he whispered as they lay in the small park, her head resting against his chest as her fingers drew invisible patterns into his shirt. "It was so quiet and lonely without you Kate" he explained, staring down at her to see her eyes shut and a smile covering her face. She'd always been attractive to him, he had to admit that from the moment he met her, her slender body and long legs had him wanting to just drag her off to bed with him but here she was beautiful. She was a different woman to the Detective Beckett he'd known and fallen in love with, she was free willed and full of spirit like before but only much more expressive of it. She was more in touch with her feelings and not afraid to express herself and he loved how that had changed about her. He loved the fact he could touch her and not worry about having a gun pulled on him and he loved how relaxed she looked half asleep in his arms. "You're perfect Kate Beckett, you really are and I think what makes it even more perfect is the fact you don't know how perfect you are" he commented, her eyes opening slowly as she stared at him, her hand reaching up to touch his cheek.

"I love you Richard Castle" she muttered, turning in his arms to look down at him, his fingers running down her cheek and slipping a stray piece of hair behind her ear while she watched him. "I've loved you since day one and it's never changed, I did try to tell you quite a few times actually, I tried" she whispered causing him to shake his head and keep his hand pressed gently against her cheek.

"We weren't ready then, neither of us was ready for this" he declared softly as she nodded slowly. "We had to have the separation to know how much we needed each other and it kills me to think that we had to separate because you ended up marrying some idiot who tried you in a way a lot less than you deserved, Kate Beckett you are a goddess and you should be treated like one" he announced, his voice becoming more passionate as her cheeks got more red. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm telling the truth" he laughed.

"I'm not a goddess Richard Castle, I'm not even close in comparison to the likes of Gina and Meredith and all those other women I see draped across your arm in magazines" she declared causing him to roll his eyes and smiled at her, his lips slowly moving against her.

"Kate you're so much more attractive than any of them and anyway you have so much more than they ever did, they were there for money and fame that being with me gave them, your here because I hope you love me for who I am" he declared as she nodded.

"Don't get me wrong I love Richard Castle to bits but I think Richard Alexander Rodgers is the man who I'm completely in love with you, Castle is just a persona you've created, Rodgers is the man underneath the mask, my own personal mystery to crack" she mumbled onto his lips as they moved so she was now lying underneath him.

"So if we got married Kate, just suggesting it okay, I'm not asking yet because I know what we're both like about commitment" he laughed as she smiled and nodded, loving his consideration for her feelings. "Would you keep your name as Beckett like you did with Josh? Would you become a Castle like me or Alexis? Or would you become Rodgers?" he asked as she stared at him completely surprised by the question but also about the fact she was thinking about it.

"Kate Davidson never sounded right to me and I wasn't really convinced with the whole marriage idea with him, I wasn't ready to be someone's wife Rick and I was believed changing my name would make me someone else's property" she sighed, a small nod convincing her to continue. "I wouldn't become Rodgers' though because I'd want to share the same name as you however much I would be Richard Rodgers' wife at heart" she admitted, embarrassed about how much she had actually thought about the issue in so much detail.

"God your perfect" he laughed as she smiled, feeling her cheeks burn up however, her head quickly burying into his shirt to cover her embarrassment. "You really are Kate; I don't think I've ever loved anyone this much in my life".

"Good because I like to think you're all mine and not someone else's" she mumbled onto his lips before kissing him, her hands running through his hair as it began to rain slowly. "However I will share you with Alexis" she laughed.

"Good" he added before noticing the rain getting worse. "Maybe we should head back to the hotel before we freeze" he whispered, getting up off the floor before helping her up, a smile covering her face as she looked at him and touched his cheek. "What's this surprise you've got for me then Kate?" he asked quickly before she rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I knew you were going to ask at some point but you have to wait till tonight to see it" she laughed before kissing him and grabbing her bags off the floor. Holding onto his hand, she walked down the road with him and led him towards the hotel, a smile covering her face as she realised that she had never felt like this with anyone. She'd been with around three men seriously in her adult life and all of them had ended badly and two thirds of them ending because of her love for Richard Castle.

"Kate are you okay?" he asked causing her to realise that they'd stopped in the middle of the pouring rain while everyone else was running inside to get away from it. "Kate…" he whispered before pulling her close and staring at her, losing himself in the deep colour of her eyes. "Something's on your mind, what is it?"

"Nothing that you don't know already Rick, I'm just thinking about everything that's happening" she commented as he smiled and kissed her cheek, leading her down the road as the rain continued to get worse, soaking their clothes to their bodies but neither of them caring. They were together and they were in love and nothing they could think of was going to change that now. They were both certain of that.


	22. Chapter 22

**I know it's short but I wanted to leave it somewhere where I can write a really long chapter tomorrow and I wanted to leave it somewhere decent! **

Kissing her as they entered the room both drenched from the rain that was extremely heavy outside, a smile appeared on his face as he led her towards the bed, her head shaking slowly causing him to move away slowly and stare at her, worry filling every available space in his body.

"One minute" she mumbled before kissing him, his arms wrapping tighter around him. "One minute Rick" she laughed, slipping away from him slowly and grabbing her bag from off the floor, walking towards the bathroom door as he watched her in amusement. "It'll be worth it I promise" she declared as she shut the door behind her, enjoying the fact she was teasing him.

"It better be Kate, I don't normally stop here" he declared, a smile however remaining on his face as he slowly began to pace up and down the room, counting the minutes down by the clock on the wall. "Kate, hurry up, I'm bored" he moaned, his voice similar to a child's she noticed as she smiled at herself in the mirror and slowly nodded, allowing her fingers to run through her hair quickly, glad that the rain had made it slightly curly. Slowly unlocking the door, she stepped out to see him walking away from her before turning, shock covering his face. "Wow" he mumbled as he took in the black lace nightie she was wearing, her teeth sinking slowly into her lips as she stood there looking at him. She hadn't done something like this for years and it nerved her that he might not like it. "You are breath-taking" he whispered as he walked over and wrapped his arms around her, his lips pressing against hers as she slowly allowed herself to relax. He was different, he wasn't Josh and he wanted her for everything she was. Feeling him lift her into his arms, she smiled, allowing him to carry her to the bed and lie her down amongst the black sheets, his hands running down her side as she stared at him. "Honestly Kate your beautiful" he muttered, his lips pressing against her neck as she groaned.

"Stop talking Rick please" she laughed, her fingers playing with the buttons on his shirt, undoing each one slowly while his lips continued to press against his neck, slowly moving down to her shoulders, slipping the small black straps down so he could kiss her skin properly, her eyes shutting so she could enjoy every touch he placed on her skin. Slipping his shirt of him, she smiled as she sat up and kissed him, enjoying the feel of him against her, his hands creeping up legs slowly, under the thin material.

XOXOXOXO

Running his fingers down her back as they lay on their sides staring at each other, he smiled, his lips moving slowly against hers, a smile appearing slowly onto her face as her own fingers ran through his hair. Moving closer, she rested her head on his chest as he lay down flat on the bed and wrapped an arm tightly around her, keeping her close forever. Hearing a small knock at the door, they both turned before groaning, their eyes shutting as they slowly moved apart from each other, Rick being the one to climb out of bed and grab his boxers off the floor. Watching him as he dressed, she smiled as he turned and winked before creeping over to the door, opening it slowly before gasping.

"Alexis?" Rick asked causing Kate to sit up and hold the sheet around her body, staring as Rick turned and smiled at her. "Give us a sec darling, Kate's just waking up" he declared before walking into the room and chucking Kate his shirt, a smile appearing on his face as he watched her dress in his shirt and creep back into the bed, the sheet covering her legs quickly. "Okay you can come in now" he laughed before reaching out his hand, clutching onto Alexis' hand as he led her into the room, a smile appearing onto the teenagers face as Kate stared at her, a smile creeping across her face quickly as she took in the young woman who she hadn't seen in so long and who she'd missed so much without knowing it.


	23. Chapter 23

**I have finally written a chapter going to 2000 words, I am so proud of myself. A lot of Alexis in this and Rick might be slightly out of a character at the end but as we all know he's extremely protective of Alexis, even when she's twenty years old and moved out. Thanks once again for the amazing reviews and please continue, they make me want to write more and make my chapters longer. **

"Look dad, can I talk to Kate alone for a second?" Alexis asked as Rick stared at them, his eyebrows rising as Alexis smiled at him. "Girl things dad, you won't understand" she declared, a small nod from him causing Kate to smile and pull him close, her lips pressing against his before she smiled at him.

"Go and get us some breakfast or something" she whispered as he nodded and smiled at his daughter before quickly leaving the room. "What's the matter Alexis?" she asked as the young woman sat herself down on the bed next to her, a sigh leaving her lips.

"I'm with a guy" she blurted out, shock covering Kate's face as she realised that hadn't been what she was expecting. "We're pretty serious and well, we've moved in together and he brought me out here to meet his family and I want him to meet you and dad but I know dad's going to lose it when he finds out" Alexis whispered as Kate nodded, knowing that Alexis was completely right about her father. "Can you convince him to come to dinner tonight but not tell him why?" she asked as Kate quickly coughed at the idea. She knew how much Richard Castle loved his daughter but she also knew he wanted a police check on every boyfriend to check whether he was a dangerous criminal. "Please Kate, he means a lot to me".

"Your dad is going to hate me Alexis" she commented as Alexis sighed and nodded slowly. "But if he means that much to you, it's worth it" she declared before Alexis' arms wrapped around her neck, a smile appearing on both women's faces. As Alexis gave her the details for the restaurant, Kate listened as she watched the lasting smile on the young woman's face, knowing exactly how Alexis was feeling. She was in love and it was clearly shown on the girls face. "Thanks Kate, I don't know how I would have done this without you" she announced before standing just as the door opened and Rick walked in, smiling at them.

"Are you staying for breakfast Alexis, there's enough here" he asked, Alexis quickly shaking her head before walking over and kissing his cheek.

"Dinner tonight, Kate knows where we're going, I'll see you there and dress smart" Alexis whispered before waving at Kate and slipping out of the hotel room, a smile covering her face as Rick stared at a beaming Kate. Walking over, he sat himself down on the bed next to Kate and smiled at her, his fingers trailing up the shirt she was wearing, her teeth sinking into her lip as he watched her.

"What's going on? Is Alexis okay?" he asked, the worry in his voice making her smile more than never.

"She's fine Rick, more than fine actually" she declared before kissing him, her hands pushing him down onto the bed under him. "She's so beautiful Rick, you did an amazing job raising her" she whispered as he nodded and kissed her. "You love me no matter what don't you Rick?" she asked as he quickly nodded and pressed his lips against hers, his hands unbuttoning her shirt, a giggle leaving her lips as she watched him examine her body, a smile creeping onto his face as he looked down at her and pressed a kiss against her stomach.

"Of course, I'll love you forever Kate" he declared as she bit her lip. "Why? Have you done something?" he asked before she shook her head and smiled, hating herself for lying to him. He was the man of her dreams and she was lying him but she had to, she'd promised Alexis and she never broke her promises. "Now why don't we leave breakfast and do something a bit more satisfying?" he suggested, a smile appearing on her face as she nodded in agreement, laughing as his lips ran up her stomach.

"Only a bit more satisfying Rick" she asked as he smiled. "I thought I was a lot more satisfying than breakfast Richard Castle" she whispered, his lips moving slowly down her neck as she stared at him, her hands running up his back in complete amusement as he continued to touch her.

XOXOXOXOX

"Come here, you've buttoned your shirt up wrong" she laughed as he walked over to her and she slowly undid his shirt, redoing the buttons so they were straight and sorted. "How you manage it Rick I don't know?" she laughed, her lips pressing against his slowly, while his arm wrapped around her hips. "I need to get dressed, I can't go to dinner in a dressing gown can I Rick?" she laughed as he groaned and slowly began to undo the gown. "No we can't, you've had your fun once today and we need to go and meet your daughter for dinner" she declared, grabbing the clothes she'd taken off the bed and slipping towards the bathroom, a smile covering her face as she shut the door and dressed herself slowly. Walking out of the bathroom, she smiled as he stared at her. Dressed in a knee length green dress with her hair tied across one shoulder, she beamed as she watched the facial expression of complete shock that covered his face.

"You are honestly the most breath taking woman I've ever seen and I don't think I want to share this sight with anyone else" he laughed as he walked over to her and kissed her gently. "We're going to be late, let's go, I haven't seen Alexis in a long time and I'm not wasting any time I have with her" he declared as she took hold of his hand and led him to the door. "I can't wait to go to spend the evening with my two favourite women" he announced. Kate's heart sinking as she thought about how Rick was going to come back tonight feeling completely different.

XOXOXOXO

"Alexis" Rick smiled as he saw his daughter sat in the corner of the restaurant, a smile covering her face as she stood up and wrapped her arms around her father's before moving away and smiling at Kate. Staring at his daughter, he immediately noticed something was wrong, his hand holding onto hers slowly. "Is something wrong Alexis?" he asked.

"Is this them?" someone asked causing Rick to turn to see a man standing there, Alexis walking over to him slowly, her arm wrapping around him slowly as Rick's eyebrows raised in shock. Grabbing Rick's hand, Kate pulled him towards her as she clutched onto him tightly, stopping him from going for the man in front of him. "Hello, you must be Richard Castle and Detective Beckett" he declared, holding his hand out in desperation to be polite showing through his voice and actions.

"Yes and who are you?" Rick asked, staring at the hand that was being held out in front of him. Alexis and Kate both were watching him in hope that he would become the loving and kind Richard Castle that they knew him to be when he was his normal affectionate self.

"I'm James, Alexis' boyfriend" he explained, his arm tightening around Alexis who smiled up at her father, desperately hoping he wouldn't make a scene in the middle of the restaurant.

"Look why don't we sit down?" Kate suggested, gaining a nod from everyone but Rick who remained still as Alexis and James sat themselves down. "Rick, just calm down please, just give him a chance" she whispered onto his lips before kissing him and leading him to their seats. The two of them seating while she continued to hold his hand under the table, trying to keep him calm so he didn't ruin his daughters evening. "So Alexis told me that you were here to see family James, are your parents German?" Kate announced, desperately hoping that Rick would join in the conversation at some point.

"No my parents are American but they moved here a few years ago, they fell in love with Germany when they went on honeymoon here and knew they wanted to move out here when they had the chance to do it" the man smiled as Alexis looked at him, the smile on her face showing every single thing she felt for the man beside her. "And I had to introduce them to Alexis at some point and I was right about them loving her, she's the most amazing person I've ever met" he announced before kissing her, Rick's hand tightening in Kate's.

"So how did you two meet?" Kate asked, knowing Rick was still trying to process the new information about his daughter's life.

"We take the same classes at university and we just got talking one day and went for coffee and have spent the last two years together" Alexis laughed before kissing James' cheek, her eyes however not moving off her father's face. "We moved in with each other about a year ago though, it just seemed right" she explained, this causing Rick to choke on the glass of water he'd poured himself. Hitting him on the back, Kate sighed as she looked at Alexis and shook her head slowly, knowing that Rick was going mental inside.

"Would you excuse us for a minute?" Kate asked as Alexis nodded, Kate standing and touching Rick's shoulder. "Rick a word please" she announced, walking towards the exit with Rick following her. Standing outside, she stared at him as he stood there in complete silence staring straight at her. "She loves him Rick and there pretty serious about each other, at least make the effort to get to know him" she begged, her hands holding onto his as she looked at him.

"You knew about this Kate, you knew about all of this and you didn't tell me" he declared, her hand reaching up to touch his cheek. "She's my daughter Kate, don't you think I had the right to know when you found out".

"Rick she's not taking drugs or sleeping around or anything like that, she's in a serious relationship with someone who seems to be a decent guy which she didn't know how to tell you about, if she was doing anything even close to dangerous or illegal I would tell you but she's a woman in love and I won't stand in her way" Kate announced as he shut his eyes. "She's twenty years old Rick, you can't expect her to spend her life alone because you won't accept the fact that she's growing up now".

"She's my daughter Kate, I won't let her screw her life up like this because of one guy" he muttered before going silent for a moment. "Two years Kate. They've been together for two years and living together for one and she couldn't tell me, do you know how that makes me feel?" he asked as he walked towards a bench and sat down, his head burying into his hands as he groaned.

"No, I don't know how you feel Rick but I know that you're going to have to accept that Alexis isn't a baby anymore, she's a young woman who will be living with people and having sex with men but you've got to realise she's been brought up by the best man I know and she understands what to do and Rick, she knows that if she has a problem she can come to you" she explained, sitting herself beside him and clutching onto his hand. "Why don't I go in there and make up some excuse and we go back to the hotel, process everything that's happened? We'll go out with them tomorrow" she whispered into his ear as he slowly nodded and watched her stand up and walk back into the restaurant.

XOXOXOXO

Entering the hotel slowly, she sighed as she watched him walk over to the bed and kick his shoes off, his body collapsing onto the mattress as he let out a groan, her eyes rolling before she crept over and lay herself on her side next to him.

"Make the effort tomorrow, talk to him for all you know you might actually like him" she begged as he shut his eyes, her lips moving against his neck gently. "She really likes him Rick and it will kill her if you don't make the effort" she commented, her hands unbuttoning his shirt slowly. "He seems like a really nice and decent man Rick who really loves your daughter, why can't you just be happy for them?" she asked.

"It's not that, well it is sort of but it's mainly the fact that my own daughter kept this a secret for two years because she couldn't tell me, what next? She's going to be pregnant and not know how to tell me" he suggested as Kate rolled her eyes at him. "She might be twenty Kate but she's still my little girl at heart".

"I know Rick but everyone grows up at some point, she's not a child anymore and you need to stop this childish behaviour, please for me" she begged as she clung onto his hand. "For me can you try to get along with him?" she begged, a nod slowly answering her as she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Thank you, I know it's hard but for all you know you might like him" she whispered before he groaned and she shook her head in amusement. "I love you Rick" she mumbled as he got off the bed and walked towards the bathroom, the action leading her to sit up and stare at him. "Where are you going?"

"Shower, you get to sleep, you're tired" he whispered as she watched him hide behind the door and heard it lock a few seconds later. For the first time since she had been reunited to him, she was feeling like she was losing him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Just would like to state a fact that I'm not completely happy with this chapter but honestly, I was completely stuck and this seemed like the best idea. More Alexis and James coming up in this chapter and the next! Any way I hope you enjoy and continue to review, could really do with a response to this because it's not my most confident chapter! **

Lying in bed, she stared at the bathroom door as she heard the shower turn off and the sound of Rick in the bathroom, her heart breaking as she sat up the moment the door opened and Rick slipped out of the bathroom, dressed in his boxers and a shirt. Staring at him, she bit her lip as he sat down on the sofa and pulled the blanket from behind it around him, ignoring her completely as she continued to sit there watching. Climbing out of the bed, she slowly walked over and knelt on the floor beside the sofa as he shut her eyes, his teeth sinking into his lip, blanking her out completely.

"Rick, I'm sorry" she whispered, her eyes shutting for a moment as she thought about everything but also while she tried to stop herself from crying. "I couldn't break a promise to her though, she didn't know how to tell you and she wanted to do it the best way possible and I'm sorry if that makes you cross with me but I had to do what I felt was best for everyone, especially you" she mumbled, a tear finally trickling down her cheek slowly as she climbed into bed and buried her head into the pillow, the tears continuing to flow down her cheeks. Hearing the silence around them, she bit her lip as she pulled the blanket up over her head, covering her whole body, protecting her from the weakness she was feeling.

XOXOXOXO

Slipping into the park later the following day, Rick sighed as he saw his daughter lying in the park, her head resting on James' lap while he read to her, her fingers running through the grass surrounding them and by seeing them he realised something he'd been too blind to see. Alexis was in love with this man and he couldn't change that. Walking over, he smiled as James noticed his presence and immediately shut the book, Alexis sitting up and smiling at him before he knelt down and kissed her cheek.

"Where's Kate?" Alexis asked quickly, noticing the absence of the older woman who she'd thought would be there today. "Dad?" she asked once more, her eyebrows rising as she stared at the man who was sat in front of her.

"She's not coming" he whispered as he thought about everything he'd done. He'd ignored her last night and refused to talk to her this morning, leaving her alone in their hotel room while he made his way down here to see his daughter and the man who was ruining everything for him right now. "We had a falling out, well more like I refused to forgive her for last night" he mumbled before Alexis' hand hit his face, shocking both men. Alexis had never been violent and she'd never struck her father before even as a child playing games because she loved him too much for that. Holding his hand to his cheek, he stared at the red head in front of him who was shaking her head at him. "What was that for?" he asked in complete shock.

"For treating Kate like rubbish, if you're going to ignore anyone ignore me! I didn't tell you about James for two years because I knew you were going to react like an idiot and I went to Kate because she would know what to do to make it easier on you" Alexis announced, James clutching onto her hand quickly after noticing it beginning to raise from her lap. "That woman loves you much more than you deserve dad dad and she didn't want to hide it from you, honest but I made her and she did because she is the most loyal person I've ever known" she announced as Rick looked down at his lap, biting his lip once more.

"Alexis calm down" James whispered as she shook her head at him, not taking her eyes off her father.

"Richard Castle you used to think about others before yourself and I don't know when you turned into a selfish person but I don't like you very much right now" she declared before standing up and staring at him, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I watched you destroy yourself when you lost Kate to Josh and it hurts to just watch you throw that away because of what I did, it's not her fault, none of this is" Alexis sobbed. Quickly, he got to his feet and wrapped his arms around his daughter, holding her close to him as she continued to cry in his arms, James watching as he took in the loving relationship in front of him. "I wanted to tell you dad, I really did but I didn't know how, I'm sorry I kept it a secret".

"I'm sorry I didn't make more of an effort last night with James, I was just being childish about the whole thing and I immediately thought I wouldn't like him because he was this man taking my daughter from me" he whispered as he refused to let her go, a smile appearing on her face as she rested against him. "I can't lose you Alexis because after losing Kate to Josh, I was scared of losing you to someone and that I'd never see you again" he declared, his head burying into her hair as a tear ran down his cheek. Moving away slowly, he smiled as James stood up behind his daughter and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Dad, James wanted me to tell you straight away, I was the one who kept it a secret and he's a big fan of your books" Alexis smiled as James nodded in agreement. "And it was my idea to move in together, not his" she added, Rick turning to look at the man standing behind his daughter. "So can you please try?" she begged, a small shake of the head answering her as she stood in complete shock.

"I can't without Kate, if this is going to be a family thing, she has to be here too because she's my family, at least she was yesterday morning" he whispered before moving away from them. "Tonight, come to the hotel tonight, we'll just chat, I promise and if it's completely and utterly over between me and Kate then I'll call you and rearrange" he declared as Alexis rolled her eyes and watched her father run off towards the park exit, dodging all the people that were relaxingly strolling down the path.

"Does he do that often?" James asked her as she stared at him. "I don't mean the whole argumentative crying thing, I mean just disappearing in the middle of a conversation" he declared, a small shrug from Alexis causing him to laugh.

"I think he's not completely there at times but his heart is in the right place and I know he'll love you once he makes the effort, he's just had a hard time the last few years with me leaving and Kate marrying someone else" she whispered, James's lips moving against her cheek slowly. "He's not sure about relationships right now and especially when he's been an idiot with Kate" she added as he slowly nodded and picked up the book again. "Now continue, I'm supposed to know this for class and I'm still not happy with my knowledge of it" she laughed.

"Alexis you've read it four times" he said in shock as she smiled at him. "But because it's you" he whispered before kissing her and beginning to re-read, Alexis smiling up at him as she continued to think about her father and Kate and hoping he hadn't ruined it forever.


	25. Chapter 25

**Once again thank you for the amazing reviews, I really appreciate them all and they do help me when it comes to writing the next chapter. Anyway I hope you continue to enjoy and comment and any suggestions for the next chapter are welcome, I always like to involve things people like more of. **

Entering the hotel room, he stared at her as she chucked the rest of her clothes into the bag and flung her bag over her shoulder, looking up at him quickly, sadness covering her face. Shaking her head at him quickly, she walked towards the door, holding another room key in her hand as she walked past him and left the room in complete silence, not even bothering to explain herself. She couldn't talk to him right now. She needed space. She hadn't been in a decent relationship for a long time and now being thrown in so deep with Rick so quickly, she needed time to think about all the changes to her life and the argument about Alexis had shaken her. Following her out of the room, he touched her arm making her stop as she turned and shook her head once more.

"Just tell me where you're going so I know that you're safe and you can get hold of me if you need me" he begged as she slowly nodded and pointed at the opposite hotel room, a small smile appearing on her face as she realised that he still cared about her even though he'd ignored her the night before and that morning.

"I just need some space Rick, it's gone so quick I can't think and last night made me realise that" she explained, walking over to the door slowly to let herself in to her new room. "I hope it went well with Alexis today, it'll be a shame to watch you ruin your relationship with her because you don't like the boyfriend" she commented before entering the room and shutting the door behind her, a tear running down her cheek as she slowly placed her bag on the bed and looked around the single room, noticing the similarities and the differences to her room across the corridor. It would do while she sorted herself out!

XOXOXOXOX

Hearing a small tap at her door later that evening, she slipped out of the bathroom, clinging onto the robe that was covering her naked body. Opening it, she stared at the red head that was standing there staring at her, her arms crossed around her chest.

"Can I come in please?" she asked, Kate nodding as she allowed the woman to slip into her room. Shutting the door, she turned to see Alexis sighing, a smile on her face. "Dad's miserable, Kate he's really sorry for what he did I promise and he really misses you, I've never seen him like this" she declared, Kate shaking her head slowly as she tried to block out the idea of a miserable Richard Castle. "He told me what he did and I've never hurt my dad before but I had to slap him for that" she announced, shock covering Kate's face. "And I've never seen him run so fast to apologize to someone Kate" she added, a small smile appearing on Kate's face as she turned away for a moment.

"You hit your father?" she asked in complete shock as Alexis laughed and nodded. "Wow, I never thought Alexis Castle would hurt someone especially her father" she whispered in complete shock.

"He loves you Kate, I've never seen him love anyone this much in his whole life, he's a stupid idiot, I give him that but he completely loves you Kate, he'd do anything for you and I'm not saying you should let him off for what he did to you last night but it was my fault and it's because he's so protective, you've got to love it rather than hate it otherwise I would have been arrested for murder by now" she laughed as Kate sighed and felt a tear run down her cheek. Walking over, Alexis slowly pulled her into her arms and hugged her.

"Where's James tonight then? You haven't left him on his own to come and see me on behalf of your father have you?" Kate asked as Alexis laughed, a smile appearing on her face.

"No dad didn't even call me about this, we were coming over so James' is in the other room with dad, debating about Nikki Heat and Derek Storm, there still deciding whose the better character and of course Dad's fighting for Nikki Heat like he would with anyone" Alexis explained as Kate slowly nodded, a tear running down her cheek as she thought about how Rick was still fighting for her even when it wasn't directly about her. "Look we're going down to the bar in a minute, why don't you come down and make sure dad knows never to hurt you again?" she announced as Kate stared at her, her mind coming up with a plan that linked to Alexis'.

XOXOXOXO

"How many has he had?" Alexis asked as she joined her father and boyfriend in the bar, staring at the older man who was sat at the bar staring at an empty shot glass. "Please tell me he's still slightly with it, Kate's just about to come downstairs and if he's drunk everything is completely ruined" she begged quietly as Rick turned to look at her, wanting to know whether she'd just said because he'd heard the name Kate. "Dad are you sober?" she asked innocently, a smile appearing on James' face as he thought about how he loved Alexis' natural care for people.

"Yes, I've had one shot and that's it, I promise" he explained as she quickly nodded and smiled at him. Hearing her phone beep, she stared down at the message and smiled before looking at her father and holding out her hand. Staring at her, he slowly took hold of her hand and listened as Alexis excused them to James who nodded and watched as Alexis dragged her father out of the small bar. "Alexis Castle where are we going?" he asked as she led him towards the lift. "Alexis, I don't like surprises especially when I don't know secretly what it's about" he announced as she sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

"Just promise you'll keep your mouth shut about everything okay" she begged, his eyebrows rising as she laughed and watched as the door to the lift opened and she pushed him out of it, smiling as she led him towards his hotel room.

"Oh come on Alexis, I haven't drunk that much I don't need to be put to bed by my own daughter" he moaned as she unlocked the room and pushed him in, shutting the door behind him as a smile appeared on her face. Looking around his hotel room, he smiled as he saw a familiar figure sat on the edge of his bed playing with her hair, the purple dress she was wearing flattering every curve of her body. "Katie?" he asked, her head turning to look at him before she stood up.

"Can we talk Rick?" she asked being answered by a small nod while he walked towards her slowly, burying his hands into his pockets to stop himself from reaching out to touch her.


	26. Chapter 26

**Wow you guys are amazing when it comes to reviews! I really do love them and I can't wait to hear from you in upcoming chapters! Anyway here's the next chapter which in typical fashion I'm not too sure about but I was getting fed up of Kate and Rick being in conflict. Also I would like to warn that updates might become less frequent as I have 8 GCSE's in the next three weeks and 2 of them have to be maths which is a disgusting subject! **

"Alexis came to see me this afternoon Rick" she whispered as he nodded, not knowing what Alexis had said but desperate to know, sitting himself down next to her but leaving a gap between them so he wasn't invading her space. "She told me that she slapped you because of what you Richard Castle did to me" she explained, a smile covering her face as she looked at him and noticed the red mark on his cheek. Standing, she slowly slipped her fingers to the mark, seeing the wince in his face as she touched it gently; worry filling her mind as she stared at it.

"Kate, I shouldn't have ignored you I was an idiot and I was being stupid and I don't know what else I can say to you to make it better and to just get us back to the way we were two days ago" he announced as she slowly sighed and moved away from him, hating how blind he was sometimes and how he hadn't given her the one thing that was customary to give.

"I'm sorry would be nice" she admitted, staring down at her feet to avoid herself watching him. "You've not come up to me and said sorry Rick and that's all I want, an honest apology from you" she explained, looking up to see him standing there. Moving closer, he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close to him before he stared straight into her eyes, bringing his forehead to hers.

"I'm sorry Kate, I'm sorry for being a rubbish boyfriend for the past few days and I'm sorry for treating you like rubbish when you're not" he whispered, his voice honest and relaxed, bringing a smile to her face as a tear ran down her cheek. "I'm not going to lose you again Kate because of stupid mistakes, I was too stubborn to tell you that I loved you four years ago and I was too blind to see what you were doing for Alexis yesterday" he admitted, running his hands up and down her back slowly. "I'm just not used to not being the one Alexis goes to talk to things about but I guess now that there might be a pretty stable woman in our lives now, I better get used to it" he declared.

"Might be?" she asked as he kept one arm wrapped around her hips while his other hand went up to her cheek, his thumb stroking her chin as she bit her lip. "I think you mean will be Rick, you haven't scared me off yet Mr Castle, it takes a lot more than ignoring me to make me run away forever" she laughed, her arms tightening around his neck before she pressed her lips against his gently.

"Look I want to treat you and Alexis and James to dinner tonight, I think it's time I got over everything and made the effort to try and get on with him not just for Alexis but for you as well" he explained as he continued to hold her. "Please, let me take you out to dinner, it seems like a shame not to take you out when you look so beautiful" he admitted as she nodded and kissed his cheek, a smile appearing on both their faces as she grabbed her jacket off the bed and walked with him towards the door, the smiles remaining strong on both of them.

XOXOXOXO 

Watching him as he talked to the younger man, laughing over one thing and debating another thing, one of which being Nikki Heat one more, she smiled before taking hold of his hand in hers under the table, his head turning to look at her as she smiled up at him. Kate could see that Rick was trying hard to get on with his daughter's boyfriend, desperately wanting to make up for all the things he'd done to both Kate and Alexis in the past few hours.

"Look dad, Kate, I want to apologize for what I did" Alexis announced later in the evening. "I shouldn't have done what I did and I shouldn't have got Kate involved in something like this and most of all I shouldn't have kept it a secret from you for two years" she admitted as she looked down at the table. "I would never forgive myself if what I did became between you two because you're so perfect for each other and I couldn't bare to have dad the way he was when you married Josh" she whispered, James' arms wrapping around her quickly as Kate held onto Rick's hand a little tighter.

"Alexis, it's okay" Rick comforted as he held his other hand across the table and clutched onto his daughters. "We all make mistakes pumpkin, even you" he explained as he continued to hold onto her hand, not wanting to let go of the child he knew he was going to lose to the beautiful and intelligent adult who was now replacing her.

"Yes and your father knows that very well Alexis" Kate laughed before kissing Rick's cheek, a smile appearing on everyone's face as she sighed. "The only thing that matters is that we're able to forgive them when they do make those stupid mistakes" she announced as Rick slowly nodded, staring down at the brunette who was looking at him. "Because we love them more than anything in the world and would do anything for them" she admitted, moving closer to him as Alexis watched the couple who were still staring at each other.

"You would do anything for me would you Beckett?" he asked, his eyebrows rising as she nodded slowly and kissed him, her fingers rushing across his cheek as they slowly parted from each other, neither of them turning to look at the younger couple who were clutching onto each other's hands under the table, similar to Rick and Kate. "I would do anything for you too".

"Since when have we gone back to calling me Beckett, Castle?" she asked. "I was quite enjoying being Kate actually" she admitted before he smiled and kissed her again, his lips remaining against hers longer than the previous kiss. "I love you Rick, I really do love you" she admitted onto his lips, quiet enough for him to hear but for no one else to understand over the noise of the busy restaurant.

"I love you too Kate" he replied, holding onto her hand a little tighter under the table while his other hand stroked her thigh, a small smile creeping onto her lips as she looked down to see his fingers on her bare skin, leading towards the bottom of the material.

"Later" she mumbled before turning away to see Alexis and James whispering about something, the smile from Alexis' face disappearing as she looked up at her father and Kate. "Are you okay?" Kate quickly asked, this grabbing Rick's attention immediately as he turned to stare at his daughter.

"We've got to go, we fly back tomorrow and we haven't even started to pack" she admitted as Rick bit his lip, hating the idea of having to say goodbye to his daughter once more. "So I guess this is it till Christmas then dad" she announced, standing up along with her boyfriend, Rick standing up with Kate just as quick. Watching as Alexis threw her arms around her father, Kate smiled, watching them whisper things in each other's ears before Alexis walked over and hugged Kate. "Look after him for me Kate, I don't know what he'd do without you" she begged, her voice sounding similar to the innocent teenager she'd known four years ago.

"I promise" Kate whispered, holding on to the teenager just a little bit tighter as she shut her eyes. "Look after yourself as well and I'll see you at Christmas".

"Yes, you have to come to lunch Kate, no arguments" she declared, Kate nodding as the young woman moved away and allowed James to wrap an arm around her. "I love you both and have a good trip" she whispered, Rick and Kate saying their goodbyes at the same time before the young couple crept towards the exit. Standing there in silence for a moment, they sighed before Kate turned to look at him, her fingers running across his cheek as he sighed.

"She's amazing Rick, you have to be proud of her and the brilliant job you did raising her, there's not many single fathers who could have done what you did" Kate whispered in his ear as he nodded and sighed. "Look why don't we go back to the hotel and get your mind off Alexis leaving" she suggested, leading his hand to the bottom of her dress again. "You have a lot of making up to do anyway" she added.

"This is the only time I'm going to say that I'm glad I did what I did" he smiled before she laughed, his lips silencing her in another kiss. "Because the making up for it is going to be pretty amazing".


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you for the amazing response, I really do appreciate everything you guys have done in connection to this story. I hope you continue to enjoy it. I'm not completely sure on the ending but my brain wanted it to be like that and I won't argue with it because it always ends up doing something weird! **

Slipping into the warm bath water, she smiled as she rested against him, his arms wrapping around her waist as her back rested against his chest. Shutting her eyes, Kate sighed as she felt him press a kiss against her hair and run his hands across her stomach, a laugh leaving her lips as his hands moved further up her body towards her breasts, a small gasp leaving her lips as she felt his hands cup her slowly. Allowing a small gasp to escape her lips, she heard him laugh before moving her hair across to one shoulder, pressing his lips against her shoulder, the kisses getting more and more intense as his other hand continued to stroke her breast.

"I love you" she whispered, her eyes remaining firmly shut. "I love you Rick" she repeated, his lips slowly moving away from her shoulder to her neck where he began to kiss her again. "Thank god we're not going to the precinct" she commented, a laugh leaving his lips as he moved them away and rested back against the bath. Grabbing the soap, he smiled as he ran it up her arms, her eyes following his hands as he continued to rub the white soap up and down her arms, the smile growing on both their faces. Turning her head, she slowly pressed her lips against his, kissing him gently for a moment before moving away for a moment.

"I never thought I'd say this but I'm glad Alexis has gone, I want to just be alone with you" he admitted, ashamed about the fact but glad to have her alone again. "Don't get me wrong I love that girl to bits but…" he began before she turned and pressed her fingers to his lips, smiling at him.

"Rick I understand completely what you're talking about so shut up before you say something you'll later regret" she announced before placing her lips where her finger had been. "I know how much you love Alexis but this is just about us at the moment, this is our trip and I don't think I can really do the things we've doing with Alexis around" she declared, the smile growing on his face as he nodded and kissed her again. "Anyway who knows when we'll next get a trip together" she added.

"Don't you worry, I'm planning on taking you away at least twice a year, no arguments" he smiled as she rolled her eyes at him and relaxed onto his chest again. "Did you ever used to do this with Josh?" he asked, shocking both of them with why he was asking such an odd question.

"Do what?" she asked quickly as he looked down at the water around them. "No, we were never like this Rick" she whispered, holding onto his hand and resting it on her stomach. "In a way I was scared to be close with him, I was scared to be this open with him" she admitted. "He never saw me naked unless we were having sex and well, we were just so separate about everything" she sighed, the smile returning to her face a few seconds later. "But I was always in love with you and he knew that" she whispered before pressing a kiss against his chest. "I don't care anymore, I've had more of a love life with you in the past few weeks than I did in the whole time I was married to Josh" she explained as he smiled to himself, holding her hand a little bit tighter. Standing up slowly, she slipped out of the bath, his eyes watching her as she wrapped the towel around her and knelt beside the bath, kissing him slowly, his fingers running through her hair. "Hurry up, I'll be waiting for you Rick" she quickly whispered onto his lips as she climbed off the floor and walked out of the room, smiling to herself as she left him alone.

Leaving the bathroom a few minutes later, he smiled as he saw her sitting on the bed brushing her hair, dressed just in his shirt, the smile growing on his face as he took in how beautiful she was. Looking up, she smiled at him as she stood, the shirt reaching to her mid thighs but showing the brilliance of her long and slender legs. Walking over, he wrapped an arm around her waist as he pressed his lips against her, lifting her up slowly for her legs to wrap around his hips, their lips not moving away from each other's as they fought for control

"I love you, I love you so much" he whispered as they moved away from each other slightly to breathe in the lost air. Kissing him again, she smiled as they feel onto the bed, his back resting against the blankets as she straddled him and continued to kiss him, her lips moving from his to down his neck while his hands slid to the buttons on the shirt. "Kate have I told you how beautiful you are today?" he asked quickly as he slid the shirt from her.

"I think perhaps once or twice, maybe a bit more" she commented as he smiled and touched her cheek, bringing her face to his as she stared at him, his other hand running up her thigh slowly.

"You are the most beautiful sexually appealing woman imaginable Katie, you should be a model or an actress but I love you as a cop because you're so sexy when your angry" he smiled as her cheeks quickly burnt red from the embarrassment. "And I think I'm going to love you forever even when I'm really old and can barely walk and see" he announced as she lay herself down next to him and clung onto his hand. "I think one day we're going to live together and we're going to do something we should have done a while ago".

"And what might that be Richard Castle?" she asked, pressing her lips quickly against his chest as he ran his fingers down her spine, feeling every bit of the woman he loved.

"One day I'm going to marry you Katherine Beckett" he announced as she lay there in shock, thinking about what he'd just admitted.


	28. Chapter 28

**I know tiny chapter but can I say it's starting to become a theme that the smaller the chapter, the longer the following one. At least that's what happened on "Our Newest Hurdle". Once again thank you for the reviews and I'm hoping to get the drama back into the story with this one so enjoy and do tell me what you think, I love hearing from you. **

"Katie are you okay?" he asked a few seconds later, noticing her frightening silence as he looked down to see her staring at him already, her face showing the clear thinking she was doing. "Kate I don't mean I'm going to waltz you up the aisle now but I do plan to at some point in the future" he explained, her head shaking slowly as she sat up, glad that she had his shirt on to cover up her body. "Do you not see us going that far Kate? Do you just see this as a holiday romance or something you can use to get over Josh with?" he blurted out, tears appearing in her eyes as she slipped out of the bed staring at him, him also climbing out to stare at her from the opposite side.

"You know how I feel about you Rick, how could you even say that?" she announced, the anger and clear pain obvious in her voice as she shook her head at him and began to collect up her clothes. "I love you Rick, I really do love you but why do you keep screwing everything up?" she asked, tears rolling down her cheeks as he finally realised how much he'd hurt her.

"Katie, I never meant to upset you, I'm sorry about what I said" he admitted, walking over slowly to wrap his arms around her, bringing her close to him as she burst into more tears. "I'm sorry, I never meant to upset you this much, if I knew I was going to I'd have glued my mouth shut" he admitted, her head shaking slowly.

"It's not that Rick, it's just everything doesn't seem to be going the way I planned it too" she whispered, the tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at him, the tears rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head. "I don't think anything is turning out the way I planned it too originally" she sobbed, moving away from him slowly as he stared at her in confusion.

"Kate if something's wrong, please tell me and I'll try my best to fix it, I hate you being upset because of something I've done" he admitted, holding onto her hand gently as she bit her lip and sighed. "Please Kate, tell me I want to help because I love you" he announced as she slowly nodded. Bringing her close to him, he held her for a moment as she began to cry into his chest. "Kate".

"I think I'm pregnant" she admitted as he stared at her. "And I have a huge feeling that I was before I saw you again" she whispered, feeling the stab in both her and Rick's hearts at that moment, their eyes locking onto each other's as she threw her arms around his neck and held her close to him.


	29. Chapter 29

**Wow, I don't think I've ever had such an amazing response to a chapter. Thank you so much for all your comments, I have loved every single one and taken every comment in to this chapter, hoping to make you all happy and keep you interested. I hope you enjoy it and please comment, I really want to know what you say. **

Holding her to him, he sighed as he sat down on the bed, her arms remaining around his neck as she sat down with him and clung herself to him. He couldn't think about anything. If Kate was pregnant and it wasn't his, then it was Josh's and he didn't know whether he could spend the rest of his life bringing up the child of a man he hated more than anything just so he could be with Kate. He knew he'd do anything but whether he'd be able to cope with another man's child in the equation, he was finally beginning to doubt himself. Moving her arms from his neck, she slowly took hold of his hands, clinging onto them desperately as silent tears ran down her cheek, her hands bringing his to her lips as she slowly pressed a kiss against his skin.

"If I am Rick, you won't leave me will you?" she asked, waiting for him to answer as she remained silent, unable to look at him. "You'd leave me wouldn't you? You wouldn't be able to stay because I'd have someone else's baby inside me" she announced, his head shaking as he lay down on the bed, watching her lie down next to him, his arms wrapping around her body as he pressed a kiss to her neck. "I'd do anything to keep you in my life Rick because you're all that matters to me" she muttered through the tears as he continued to hold her. "I don't want a baby if it's not yours" she sobbed, rolling around so she could bury her head against his chest.

"Have you done a test?" he asked her head shaking quickly as he sighed. "Tomorrow, first thing we'll buy a test and then we'll know for certain" he whispered as he ran his hands up and down her back, trying to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

"I need to know Rick; I need to know whether you'd stay with me even if I was pregnant with his child" she whispered, her voice getting quieter as she realised that she'd have to see Josh again, she would have to share something with him again, spend the rest of her life connected to a mistake she made through desperation and a need to feel love. "You wouldn't would you? You'd be scared off because it would be Josh's child" she declared, sitting up slowly as he grabbed the pillow and covered his head with it. He didn't know what he could say because he didn't have an answer. He needed to think about everything, register it all before he could give her a decent answer. Sliding out of the bed, she walked towards the small couch and sat on it, her arms wrapping around her knees as she realised that if she was pregnant she would lose Rick forever and she couldn't bare that. Walking over, he knelt in front of her, reaching up to touch her hand as she looked up at him, tears streaming down her red face.

"If you're pregnant Kate I won't leave you" he announced, staring into her eyes as she watched him. "I won't leave you because I love you and this child might be his but its yours too" he declared, smiling as she climbed onto the floor and hugged him, her head burying into his shoulder as she shut her eyes. "And I'd do anything to keep you in my life Katie because I love you" he sighed, knowing however much he might hate the child that might be growing inside her because it was Josh's he wasn't going to lose her again because of motorcycle boy.

XOXOXOXO

Staring at her as she lay in bed fast asleep, he sighed, running his fingers down her cheek as she moved onto her back, the blankets moving off her body to reveal her long legs and the shirt that barely covered her body. He had to admit he was terrified. If the test was positive, he would have to spend the rest of his life living with the child of a man he hated so he could live a life with the woman of his dreams and all he could think about was how it might end badly if he reacted in the wrong way to her baby. It was still her baby, fifty per cent her and he knew he'd have to love it because of that. But he would never be the child's father, he would always be the man who was sleeping with its mom, perhaps one day married to her and he couldn't be the villain, it wasn't like him. Lying down next to her, he took hold of her hand and kissed it gently, wanting to keep her close forever so if reality crushed the dream, he got to have those moments with her before it got crushed.

"Hold me" she whispered causing him to look down to see her staring at him. "I need you Rick, I need to know you still love me" she begged, a small sigh leaving his lips as he wrapped his arms around her and kept her close to him. "And yes, one day I want to marry you" she whispered, a small smile appearing on his face as he pressed a kiss against the back of her neck.

XOXOXOX

Entering the room the following morning, he smiled as he saw her sat at the end of the bed, her legs crossed as she stared at him. Passing her the bag, he smiled as she stood up and nodded, holding onto his hand for a moment before they both nodded and she crept towards the bathroom, neither of them knowing what to say to each other. Sitting down on the bed, he stared at the shut door waiting, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders finally realising that this wasn't just about him. It was about Kate. She'd have to spend the rest of her life seeing Josh, putting up with a man who had treated her like rubbish over the years of their marriage and he had to be the strong one when she was weak because that's how their relationship worked. He was Richard Castle and all he cared about was Kate Beckett and he was going to be there for her, baby or no baby.

Standing there, she stared at herself in the mirror, waiting for the time to pass. Was she ready to be a mom? Especially to the child of a man she hated more than anything in the world. Running her hand through her hair, she felt a tear run down her cheek wanting one thing and that was to go back to the time where Rick had screamed that he loved in the middle of a busy city just to make it official and where she'd kissed him in public because she felt like it. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to be able to sleep in his arms without having to ask like she'd done the night before. Picking up the test, she slowly walked towards the door, not yet ready to look at it. Opening it, she stared out, their eyes connecting as she bit her lip and looked down.

"Rick I'm…".

**I'm sorry but I have far too much fun with cliff-hangers hopefully this inspires you all to review! **


	30. Chapter 30

**I promise to cut down on my cliff hangers use now as there starting to get really hard to follow through with as I saw with this chapter because I really struggled to write a chapter to follow and I wanted to get one up tonight because updates are going to become a lot less over the next two weeks and I couldn't leave it there. Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter and thank you for the amazing response again to the previous one, your comments are always appreciated and every opinion I respect and take on board. **

"Rick I'm not pregnant" she smiled, the test dropping into the bin as he ran over and lifted her into his arms, her own arms wrapping tightly around his neck as a tear ran down her cheek, relief filling her veins quickly as he slowly put her down on the ground again and kissed her, his arms linking around her waist. "I'm not pregnant" she repeated, his forehead resting against hers as she laughed. "Do you know what I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life? And I've been locked in a freezer and stood in front of a bomb and threated with guns" she commented, the smile growing on his face as he moved slightly and pressed a kiss on the end of her nose, a small giggle leaving her lips as he rolled his eyes at her. Touching his cheek gently, she stared into his eyes noticing the obvious relief and pleasure that covered his face.

"I don't think I've ever been that scared either and I've been divorced twice and already had a daughter, I know fear when it hits me in the face" he laughed, pressing a kiss quickly against her lips as she ran her hands through his hair, taking in the familiar feel, a small sigh leaving her lips as she rested her head against his shoulder. "Promise me you'll never drop a bombshell like that on me again, I've never been so worried in my life" he announced, her arms wrapping around his neck as she looked at him, tears still filling her eyes.

"Oh don't worry Rick, if I'm ever going to have a baby in the future the father is going to be one hundred per cent you because the only baby that's going to grow in here" she laughed as she pressed his hand against his stomach. "Is going to be a Castle" she added wanting to make her point clear as the smile grew on both their faces, a sigh quickly leaving her lips. "Thank you for going to get the test this morning though, not many man would have done that, at least not any I've been with in the past" she admitted, feeling his lips press against her forehead as she shut her eyes for a moment.

"Now we have a whole day ahead of us without having to worry about babies or Josh or anything like that, so why don't we pack and move on? I'm getting rather fed up of Berlin. It keeps dropping surprises on me" he laughed, Kate nodding quickly. "First Alexis, then this whole pregnancy scare, what next?" he asked as she pressed a finger against his lips. "You're not going to tell me you're still married or that you're not actually a detective but rather a spy on a mission to befriend me and then kill me in my sleep are you?" he asked, her eyes rolling quickly as she clutched onto his hand.

"Richard Castle I promise you two things. One I'm most defiantly not married anymore, I made sure of that and two, the last time I checked I was a detective but I could have always been brainwashed by people so I believe that" she laughed, a smile appearing on his face as he shrugged. "You really can tell you're a writer at times, did you know that?" she whispered in amusement as he laughed and kissed her again.

"But you wouldn't change me for anyone else would you Katherine?" he smiled, her head shaking as they walked towards their suitcases, smiling at each other from opposite sides of the room. "Oh by the way…" he added, watching her in amusement.

"Yeah what Castle?" she asked quickly as she continued to smile at him, unable to get the idea that everything could return to normal again into her head. "Are you going to tell me or not?" she asked, her arms crossing quickly as he nodded.

"I love you" he whispered, the smile growing on her face as she stared down at her clothes trying to stop herself from being embarrassed from the remark. "And I would have stayed with you no matter what the result had been" he whispered, needing to get it out of his system as Kate smiled and slowly began to pack her clothes, just wanting to get away from the bad memories Berlin had and start afresh somewhere.

**Right I know another short chapter but I left it here so when I get back from the exams or actually have some free time to write more I can start somewhere else and have a clean slate to write from. I hope you enjoyed it and I can't wait to hear from you. **


	31. Chapter 31

**See I'm not bad, of course I wouldn't make her pregnant with Josh's baby, I'm so anti-Josh it's unreal so I would most defiantly not bring him back into my lovely Caskett world, I just wanted to rock the boat a bit. Thank you for all the amazing reviews, I really do love them and can't wait to hear more from you in the future. Also I know I'm being really bad and writing a lot of small chapters at the moment but for some reason long ones seem to be hard for me to do. Anyway I will stop talking now. **

Lying on her stomach, her hand resting on her hands as she lay on the bed in the Polish hotel room, she smiled as she watched him sit at the table, concentrating completely on what he was writing. She never knew Richard Castle to be quiet and this new side of him interested her and she was fascinated with the faces he made when he got stuck or when he had a new chapter to start. Stopping, he groaned as he ran his hands through his hair before turning to see Kate staring at him, a smile on her face as she watched him.

"If you could have any woman in the world, who would it be?" she asked, his eyebrows rising as he stared at her, waiting to see whether there'd be a catch to the question. "I'm not going to leave you because of it, but if you could have anyone, who would you have?" she announced, her eyes not moving off him as she watched him think about it.

"Well there is one woman" he smiled to himself, not looking at her as he sighed. "She's so hot it's unbelievable and I've adored her for years" he announced, Kate's heart aching a bit as she watched the smile on his face grow. "She's got gorgeous eyes and really long legs and perfect breasts, not too big not too small, just perfect" he smiled, turning to look at her to see that the smile had gone from her face. "And she's got beautiful dark hair and the kindest heart" he added, Kate's teeth sinking into her lip as she thought about how much he adored this other woman. "And she's mysterious, the biggest mystery I've ever had to face and I really hope that never changes" he smiled before he climbed out of the chair and knelt in front of the bed, staring at her. "Because you Katherine Beckett are perfect" he smiled, his hand running to her cheek. "How could I want anyone else but you?" he asked, her cheeks getting redder with every second as he leant forward and kissed her, his lips not moving as he stood up and she knelt up so they didn't have to move apart, her arms wrapping quickly around his neck as he lifted her up, her legs tightening around him as they continued to kiss, only to move back towards the bed. Lying down on it, she smiled as he moved closer to her again, their lips moving together once more as she began to unbutton his shirt. Moving his lips from hers to her neck, he smiled before sighing, knowing that this was the one thing he wanted to last forever.

XOXOXOXO 

Lying on the bed against him later that day, she smiled as he ran his fingers down her side, drawing circles onto her hip and chest, her teeth sinking into her lip as he began to draw invisible patterns against her breasts, a smile sigh of contentment leaving her lips moments later as he watched her. She was beautiful and the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and he knew how much he was in love with her and it was a lot more than Gina and Meredith put together. Looking up at him, she immediately noticed the serious look on her face, worry filling her veins as she turned in his arms so she could see him better.

"Kate, there's something I want to ask you" he whispered, the worry growing within her veins as she sat up slowly, Rick doing the same thing but allowing Kate to wrap the sheet around her chest like she always did after sex. "You look like I've told you I'm leaving" he laughed as he stared at the sadness in her face, his hand reaching for her cheek. "It's nothing bad, I promise so please smile" he announced, the smile growing on her face as she nodded. "And I want you to let me explain before you answer my question" he added.

"I promise" she smiled, watching as he sighed and stared at her. "Now are you going to ask me or not?" she laughed, seeing the smile grow on his face as he watched her and slowly touched her cheek, bringing her slightly closer to him as he rested his forehead against hers and smiled. "I'm not going to sit here forever Rick" she laughed.

"Kate will you marry me?" he asked, shock filling her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak but remembered her promise, remaining silent instead. "I don't mean right now but I want it to be official between us, I want everyone to see that we're serious about each other and not doing this because of a holiday fling. I want the world to see that I love you Kate" he declared, remaining close to her as she continued to stare at him. "I don't care if we're engaged for half a year or ten years or even one hundred, I don't care when you decide on a date but do me the honour of agreeing to be my wife one day in the future" he smiled, slowly moving away as she stared at him.

"Rick I…".

**I know I'm being mean again and I don't know why I keep doing it, well I do it because it's fun and my mind loves to annoy people like this, even though I promised not to do cliff hangers for a while. Anyway the more reviews, the quicker the update! God, I didn't want to turn to blackmail as well! **


	32. Chapter 32

**I really promise no more cliff hangers unless their absolutely necessary to my non-existent plot. Thank you for the amazing response again, I really do love hearing from you, even when you're threatening to hunt me down or locking yourselves in closets, which I must say is a first! Anyway I hope you continue to enjoy this and I hope to hear from you in the end. **

"Rick I…" she began before stopping and sighing, her hand holding onto his tightly as she watched him. "Do you really want to marry me Rick?" she finally asked, the smile growing on his face as he touched her cheek and brought her closer to him, pressing his lips slowly against hers, a small groan filling the room as Kate smiled, the kiss deep and passionate, symbolising everything he wanted. Moving away slowly, she beamed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and slowly nodded. "Yes, I'll marry you" she smiled, her teeth sinking into her lip afterwards as she tried to stop herself from laughing. "I want to marry you Richard Castle, I really want to be your wife" she finally laughed, the smile growing on his face as he stared at her for a moment.

"Third time lucky" he laughed, Kate's eyes rolling quickly as he sighed. "Gina and Meredith are nothing in comparison to you Katie. You're beautiful, funny, really really sexy" he smiled, a laugh leaving Kate's lips as she continued to watch him, seeing the seriousness in his eyes as he continued to speak. "You're realistic, strong minded, and too stubborn sometimes for your own good but you're the perfect woman for me Kate, never ever change who you are for anyone" he announced seriously, Kate smiling as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently.

"Well, you're the perfect person me too Rick. You're childish, can't take anything seriously but you're kind and so unrealistic sometimes that I have to laugh at the things that come into your head. You make me laugh and you make me smile and you very rarely make me cry because of something bad you've done, I love you Richard Castle" she whispered, a tear running down her cheek as he sighed and wiped it away with his thumb, the smile growing on Kate's face as their eyes locked on each other's.

"I need to get you a ring Kate" he blurted out, panic covering his face as she laughed at his reaction. "This isn't a funny matter Kate, it's not official until there's a ring on your finger, so get dressed, I need your help to choose one, it has to be perfect because you're going to have to wear it forever" he announced, the panic that filled his voice making her realise how truly important this was to him. "Katherine out of bed" he smiled as she rolled her eyes and slipped out from under the covers, smiling at him as he watched her. "God Katie you really are beautiful" he sighed as she winked at him.

"And you have forever to look at me" she giggled lightly, the smile growing on both their faces as she laughed and collected up her clothes.

XOXOOXXO 

"Rick I don't care what it looks like" she sighed as they wondered around the jewellery shop together, staring at the collection of rings in front of them. "Rick I don't even need a ring, I'm quite happy without one" she whispered before he smiled and led her out of the shop, shocking her. "Okay, now I'm not getting a ring at all" she announced as he sighed and stopped outside, holding onto her hands as she stared at him. "I can't believe you're actually giving up that easily" she declared, the smile growing on his face as he shook his head.

"Close your eyes Katie" he whispered, Kate doing what she was told as he slowly began to undo the necklace that he knew was around her necklace. "You can tell me no if you think it's a bad idea but I think it's the right one" he whispered as he slowly took her hand and slipped the ring onto it, Kate's eyes opening to see her mother's engagement ring resting on her finger, a tear running down her cheek as she slowly nodded. "Sorry it's a bad idea" he declared, Kate's head shaking as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him quickly, a laugh leaving her lips as she watched him.

"Rick it's an amazing idea" she admitted onto his lips as he sighed. "I don't have to wear it around my neck anymore and I know my mom would love it, she would love you" Kate sighed as he moved closer to her and held her, knowing it was the best idea whenever she discussed her mom. "Rick, thank you".

"For what?" he asked, the smile growing on his face as she sighed and looked up at him to see him already looking at her. "Kate?" he asked as she watched him.

"For being you" she mumbled, his lips pressing against her forehead, a smile covering her face as she stared at her hand, smiling down at the ring that was now on her finger. "It's honestly perfect Rick, thank you".

"Hey I didn't choose it, thank your dad, he made the original decision" he smiled as Kate laughed and nodded, walking down the street again with her arm around his waist, his around her hips, her head resting against him as she continued to smile, knowing completely now that marrying Josh was the biggest mistake in her life because she'd never felt like this when they'd gotten engaged. Turning to look at her, he smiled before touching her cheek. "No more Josh, he's completely forgotten now, we have a new life without him, no more memories of the past okay, just the future" he smiled, kissing her as she nodded.

"I love you Richard Castle" she laughed before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again as he sighed.

"I love you future Mrs Castle" he sighed, a laugh leaving her lips as he brought her close again and kissed her. "I love you so much".


	33. Chapter 33

**Right looking into the future, I can see this starting to come to an end which is very sad for me because this one is one of my favourite stories to write, however short my chapters are so I do apologize for how little there is in this one however I do promise that the next one will be extra long. Thank you for your reviews, I really do love them and can't wait to hear from you in the very short future left. **

"Oh my god congratulations, I knew guys were going to end up getting married since day one" Alexis laughed down the phone as Kate lay on the bed between Rick's legs, the phone resting at the end of it on loudspeaker, the sound of Alexis' excited voice filling the room. "Have you planned a date yet?" she asked, Rick laughing this time instead of Alexis, Kate rolling her eyes at him before elbowing him gently.

"No we're going slowly Alexis. We don't even know when we want to get married, we're just enjoying being engaged at the moment and having that new stage of our life" Kate explained as Rick smiled and kissed her gently, a smile covering her own face as she stared at him and sighed.

"Well we'll have to have an engagement party when you get back to New York. Have you got any idea when you're coming back because I'm in New York in a week to see Gram?" she announced, the smile growing on her face as she watched him. "It would be great to see again and I know she really wants to see you as well Kate, she's missed you over the years" she explained before sighing. "It would also be nice to see you without all the awkward feelings around" she added as Rick laughed and looked at Kate who was sat there thinking.

"Kate?" he asked, her head looking up to see him staring at her. "Look Alexis, we'll call you back in a minute" he announced as Alexis laughed and said her goodbyes and hung up, Rick staring at her. "Katie what are you thinking about?" he asked as she sighed and turned to look at him, her legs crossing as she held onto his hand. "Okay I'm just going to ask, would you like to go back next week?" he asked as she bit her lip, his hand brushing across her cheek slowly as she sighed. "We can if you want and we don't have to if you don't want to" he whispered, knowing in his heart he wasn't making the situation any easier.

"I think we should go back Rick, we've been gone nearly two months and well, I have so much that I need to sort out. I have ghosts in New York which I have to deal with before I can do anything else. But that's part of the reason I don't want to go back, I'm scared to face everything again and I'm scared that you won't want me anymore when we go back because you'll see all the bad things I did" she sighed, holding onto his hand a little tighter as he smiled and pulled her into his arms.

"I am always going to want you Kate, I love you" he smiled before pressing a kiss against her head, taking in the strong cherry smell that radiated from her body. "Nothing is ever going to change that" he added before touching her cheek and moving her head up so she could look into his eyes. "Anyway I have ghosts that I have to face as well" he sighed, lying back on the bed slowly as she rested her head against his chest. "I have Gina and Paula who are going to be asking about a new book and I have everyone at the precinct who will probably hate me for just disappearing" he explained as she slowly nodded and sighed. "We don't have to go if you don't want to Katie" he whispered.

"I know but when are you going to see Alexis otherwise and I know you miss her, the last time you saw her didn't exactly go very well did it?" she announced, resting her head on her hands as she looked up at him. "Anyway, we're going to have to face our ghosts sometime and the sooner the better because I know us Rick, we'll just keep putting it off until we never face it like we did with how we felt for years" she smiled as she sat up and kissed him gently, his hands running down her back, a smile covering her face quickly as she looked down at him. "Rick I think it's time".

"I know, I have to agree with you" he sighed, holding her close to him again as she relaxed in his arms. "But you have to move in with me fiancée dearest as soon as we get back" he smiled, a laugh leaving her as she nodded slowly and kissed him, the two of them smiling at each other as she sighed. "New York here we come" he smiled as she rolled her eyes, thinking of everything that was awaiting for them back home.

"I think this is the only part of the trip we have planned Rick" she smiled, holding onto his hand tightly. "We didn't plan where we were going, where we were staying, what we were going to do and we most defiantly did not plan getting engaged, however brilliant it was" she laughed, staring at her mother's ring on her finger. "I think we need to plan something now Rick and it always had to be the end of it" she smiled, his arms tightening around her as she sighed.


	34. Chapter 34

**Wow you guys really are lovely, I've loved all the reviews I've received and I have no pleasure in telling you that the next chapter, although probably the longest, will be the last before the epilogue, which doesn't really count as a chapter. You've been amazing and this story wouldn't have gotten this far without you and all the alerts, favourites and reviews this has received in the process! Anyway, I'm going to start my early grieving and allow you to read this chapter. Epilogue **

"I've booked us tickets for tomorrows flight, it was the earliest one I could get without being tonight" he admitted as he entered the main room to see her standing by the window, staring out at the city in front of them, dressed only in his shirt. Walking over, he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, his lips pressing against her neck as she breathed out slowly, staring at him as she watched his reflection through the window. "Tell me what's running though that mind of yours" he muttered onto his neck as she stared out at the dark city, the small lights like stars in ad dark sky.

"I'm thinking about how everything might change when we get to New York. I'm thinking about how everyone being around might ruin everything. Just having Alexis around here for a couple of days ended up with us sleeping in different hotel rooms Rick. What about when everyone else begins to reappear? What about when Gina and the precinct return?" she explained, Rick sighing as she turned in his arms, her back resting against the glass as he continued to hold her close to him, her forehead slowly resting against his chest as he ran his hands up and down her back, comforting her.

"Kate, nothing's going to ruin this" he explained, tipping her chin up so she was staring at him. "I promise" he added, Kate smiling before standing on her toes and kissing him. "Look why don't you put on that nice dress that's in your bag and I take you out for dinner?" he asked, Kate's eyebrows rising as she turned towards her bag, slowly walking towards it and pulling out a teal green dress, shock covering her face as she turned to look at him. "Don't moan at me about buying you things, I needed to buy my beautiful fiancée something when I didn't buy her an engagement ring" he explained, Kate biting into her lip as she squealed gently and ran into the bathroom to change.

"Don't worry Rick, I'll let you buy me something this once" Kate smiled as she held the dress up against herself as she stared into the mirror, the smile growing on her face as she thought about Rick seemed to know her so perfectly especially when it came to clothing. "It really is beautiful Rick, how do you do it?" she asked, turning towards the door quickly, knowing he was probably waiting right outside it.

"I told you, I have a special gift when it comes to beautiful things" he smiled, waiting for her to appear in the dress he knew that was going to suit her perfectly. "And anyway, I saw your eyes linger on it a moment longer than on the others when we walked past the shop" he commented, Kate smiling as she slowly slipped herself into it and bit her lip again. Running her hands through her curly hair, she smiled before creeping towards the door, the dress flattering her figure to complete perfection as her hand lingered over the handle while she desperately tried to calm her breathing. Slowly opening it, she popped her head around the door to see him sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her. "Am I allowed to see?" he asked, Kate nodding quickly as she stepped out of the small en-suite and stared at him as he quickly stood up.

"Do you like it?" she asked quickly, her eyes not moving off his face as he continued to stare at her, the smile growing on his face as he walked towards her and wrapped an arm around her hips, keeping her close as he slowly pressed a kiss against her lips, enjoying the sweet taste of her against him. "Because I personally love it" she added, feeling his hands run across the material, taking in the feel of it against her skin.

"I'm glad because you look absolutely stunning Kate, god knows how beautiful you'll look on our wedding day" he whispered, the smile growing on the brunette's face as she reached up and touched his cheeks, leaning up quickly to kiss him again. "I don't know whether I'll be able to breathe when I see you walking down the aisle, arm wrapped around your fathers" he imagined, Kate rolling her eyes quickly as she listened to everything he said. "I'll tell you something, I've dreamt of marrying you since I first met" he whispered onto her lips, a sigh leaving them slowly as she bit into it gently, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment. "Now detective, why don't we get going?" he asked, Kate slowly nodding as she wrapped her arm around his and allowed him to lead her out of the hotel room.

XOOXOXOX

Sitting opposite each other in the small basement restaurant, they smiled as they held hands across the table, their eyes locked on each other's as they sat in complete silence enjoying each other's company in the nearly empty restaurant. Stroking her palm, he laughed as she shut her eyes and relaxed in the chair, kicking her shoe off underneath the table before slowly running it up and down his leg, teasing him in a way only she knew how to do properly.

"Katherine Beckett you're a tease" he quickly commented, Kate rolling her eyes as she continued to run her foot up and down his leg. "Wedding day, what do you imagine having?" he asked, Kate sighing as she opened her eyes and stared the man who was sitting across from her, the smile growing on his face as he watched her take a sip of the deep red liquid that he'd poured for her only moments before.

"I imagine small but marrying you I doubt I'll be able to have that" she commented, Rick reaching across to touch her cheek, his hand forcing her to look at him. "Rick?" she asked.

"If you want small, we'll have small. I don't want the press interfering in our business Kate and anyway the only people I really want there are my family, the precinct, your father and of course the beautiful woman I'm going to be marrying" he explained, Kate laughing as she slowly nodded. "Right so small…" he began, Kate quickly nodding again as she began to think. She'd imagined getting married but she'd never really imagined the actual day itself in much detail because whenever she dreamt of it, the dream focused mainly on the man who would be waiting to marry her and who would lead her through the first dance and cut the cake with her rather than on the surroundings itself.

"Intimate and romantic" she sighed, staring down into the wine that was resting in front of her. "I'd want it to just be able you and me Rick, nothing else" she explained as he quickly nodded, loving how down to earth she was. When he'd married Meredith and later Gina, both weddings had been large public affairs where the press watched in and everyone available had been invited. It hadn't been his sort of wedding but he'd agreed to it because with Meredith she was pregnant with his unplanned child and with Gina he believed himself to be in love with her. "But I wouldn't want it o be my dream wedding Rick, I would want it to be ours" she explained, leaning across quickly to kiss him. "I've already had wedding which was just about one person, I want our wedding to be our perfect day rather than just mine or yours" she commented, Rick smiling as he squeezed her hand gently.

"Most defiantly third time lucky" he smiled, bring her hand to his lips and kissing it gently. "And I have to agree with you on most points, I want small and intimate and romantic and I just want it to be us and our family and friends" he announced, Kate watching him quickly as he sighed. "What's our song Kate?" he asked quickly.

"Rick I told when I married Josh that I didn't pay attention to that sort of thing" she laughed, Rick groaning as he quickly remembered her wedding day all those years ago to a man both of them wanted to forget. "What I hate the most is I can't wear my mom's dress to the wedding I should have worn it too originally" she whispered, staring down at the table as she took her hand away from his grip and sighed.

"Kate, you might hate this idea but it's just a thought okay" he began as she looked up at him. "I had a friend who got married and instead of wearing her mom's dress, she used a piece of it on the dress or created the veil from it. I know you might not like that idea but you'd still be wearing it" he explained as she leant back in the chair and sighed, thinking about the idea. "You don't have to decide yet Katie, we have forever for you decide" he whispered, the waiter slowly walking over with their food ending the conversation.

XOXOXOXO

"Rick, stop playing on your phone and talk to me" she moaned as she lay across the seats in the airport waiting for their plane to board, her head resting on his laps as he continued to play a game on his phone. "I'm your fiancé Richard and your phone is more important, I think I might begin to change my mind" she teased, Rick quickly putting the phone into his pocket and smiling as she groaned.

"Don't complain to me that your tired Kate, it's your fault that you didn't sleep" he laughed, Kate smiling to herself as she remembered the night before and how he had loved and worshipped her body in a way that no other man had ever done. "And you know that it was worth it" he added, Kate nodding quickly as an announcement rang through the airport, declaring that there plane was now boarding. "New York here we come" he smiled, Kate sitting up quickly, her hands running through her hair as she tried to calm it desperately. "Are you excited about going home?" he asked, staring at her as she stood up and straightened her clothing.

"I don't know, I'm still trying to come to terms with everything that's happening Rick" she laughed, a smile covering his face as he slowly stood up as well. "We're moving in together, we're getting married, it's just a surprise because two months ago I climbed onto a plane not knowing where I was going or where I was going to stay after going through a rough divorce and falling out with every single person that I called my friend" she admitted, Rick nodding quickly as he took hold of her hand and began to lead her towards where they needed to go. "I don't know why but it feels like a dream Rick".

"Don't worry Kate because I feel the exact same way" he muttered as he pulled her close and held her for a while, keeping her close as she relaxed. "But I promise this isn't a dream, we're going to get married and spend the rest of our lives happy" he promised, Kate smiling as she slowly moved away from him and sighed.

"New York here we come" she smiled, Rick laughing as they began to walk towards the terminal together, the smile growing on both their faces as they clutched onto each other's hands, neither of them wanting to let go and risk the chance of being separated again.

XOOXXOXO

Standing in the queue waiting to climb off the plane, she smiled as his arm snaked around her hips, keeping her close to him as she turned to look at him. Noticing the particular look on her face, he slowly leant down and pressed a kiss against her lips, smiling as he realised it was only the second time he'd kissed Kate Beckett in New York. Flashing their passports, they slowly slipped through the gates and stared across at the swarm of people around them waiting for loved ones to approach, Kate smiling as Rick's arm remained securely around her before they both stopped.

"Welcome home Katie" he whispered into her ear, Kate immediately noticing that Rick's driver was standing there waiting. Turning around, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, a laugh leaving her lips as she smiled at him.

"Welcome home Rick" she laughed, allowing him to quickly take hold of her hand and lead her towards the patiently waiting driver who was beaming at them, finally relieved that the blind couple and finally seen each other properly for the first time.

**I'm actually not particularly sure on this chapter I feel like I've put too much in one chunk but for some reason my brain was determined this was how it was happening. The next chapter will be Kate and Rick facing everyone, so the precinct and then the story will have its epilogue and it'll all be over. I can't believe that. Anyone I can't wait to hear your thoughts! **


	35. Chapter 35

**This is the last chapter, excluding the epilogue. Thank you so much for all your amazing reviews, I really have loved them and I can't wait to hear from you again for the final time. Each review, alert and favourite has meant so much to me and I hope to hear from you soon on another one of my stories because I probably will write another one after this. Oh and in answer to Leland Adama's question, you shouldn't have to wait long for the epilogue because I finish school tomorrow and therefore have all the time in the world. **

Standing in their bedroom, their arms wrapped around each other as her head rested against his chest, her eyes shut as his fingers stroked up and down her back, the sound of Alexis and Martha sorting things out echoing around the almost silent apartment. Pressing a kiss against her head, he sighed as he shut his eyes for a moment, inhaling the familiar smell of cherries that always radiated from her whenever he was close to her.

"They're going to be here soon" he commented, the smile growing on his face as she looked up at him, worry covering her face as he took hold of her hand and kissed her gently, a smile slowly appearing on her face as her arms wrapped tighter around his neck, keeping her close to him. "Look, there here to make it up with you Kate, they wouldn't come if they didn't want to" he explained, Kate nodding quickly as she heard a knock at the door downstairs, her teeth sinking into her lip as he clutched onto her hand a little tighter. "I won't let go if you don't want me to" he whispered onto her lips, the smile on her face but there as they walked towards the door, staring at each other. Slipping out of the room, they stood at the top of the stairs to see Esposito and Lanie standing at the bottom of the stairs, their son in Lanie's arms as the two couples looked at each other.

"Hey" Lanie announced the smile growing on both women's face as Kate slowly walked down the stairs, leaving Rick at the top smiling at the people who were now arriving. Standing in front of her friend, Kate sighed as she watched Lanie pass the small child to the man standing beside her before she flung her arms around the detective, Kate smiling as she allowed herself to be hugged by the woman she'd missed so much.

"Can we talk?" Kate asked, Lanie nodding as Kate led her upstairs, Rick watching as he joined Esposito at the bottom of the stairs, a smile covering his face quickly as Esposito nodded and they both walked towards where Ryan was standing with Jenny, the small girl sat by her feet as Rick smiled, knowing that things were starting to slowly began to fit together again.

Sitting herself down on the end of the bed, Kate stared at the woman who was standing beside the door, smiling at her, a tear running down Kate's cheek as she slowly stood up and sighed, Lanie watching her in amusement. Kate had most defiantly changed over the years, she looked more exhausted than she'd ever done in the past but the smile that covered her face was the largest that Lanie had ever seen on Kate's face. Walking over to her slowly, Kate smiled before wrapping her arms around Lanie quickly as she tears ran down her cheeks quickly, her head burying into Lanie's shoulder quickly.

"I'm so sorry for what I did Lanie, I had no right to shout at you like that" she whispered, moving away slowly to reveal her red face, Lanie holding onto her hand as she stared at her. "I was cruel and angry when I should have been happy for you Lanie" she declared, Lanie leading her towards the bed where they both sat down and sighed, trying to remain relaxed as they remembered there was a collection of guests downstairs who would immediately know if something was wrong.

"Kate, you were in a bad place, it doesn't matter anymore, it's history now" Lanie announced, Kate shaking her head, knowing that she had to give Lanie the proper explanation because she couldn't leave her friend just blaming the bad place that Kate had spent so long in.

"I miscarried, the day you told me you were pregnant, I'd miscarried so I was angry when I shouldn't have been, I'm so sorry Lanie. I'm sorry that I shouted at you and said all those things. You didn't deserve half of the stuff that I said" Kate sobbed, Lanie biting into her lip as she pulled her friend close to her and hugged her quickly, her eyes shutting for a moment as the tears continued to run down Kate's cheeks.

"You don't have to say sorry, I'm the one who's sorry" Lanie explained as Kate sat up straight and ran her hands through her hair. "I should have been there for you because I should have known there was something wrong Kate, there were so many signs at the time, I was just to blind to see them" she whispered, holding on the detective's hand as there was a knock at the door. Looking up, Kate smiled as Rick popped his head around the door, smiling at them before he noticed his fiancées red cheeks.

"Kate are you okay?" he asked quickly, Kate smiling as she quickly nodded and stared at the woman who was next to her. "Everyone's asking to see you, your dad's just arrived as well and he's worried about you already, he's desperate to make sure that your all here" he explained before slipping out of the room, Kate continuing to smile as Lanie watched her.

"I always knew you two would get it on in the end, you're perfect for each other" Lanie announced, Kate laughing as she stared down at the engagement ring on her finger. "Now why don't we go downstairs and you can meet Daniel, he's desperate to meet his Auntie Kate, even though he can't say much" Lanie smiled as Kate quickly nodded and stood up. "He makes you happy doesn't he Kate?" Lanie asked, Kate turning to look at her before slowly nodding.

"He's always made me happy Lanie, I've just been too stubborn to admit it before" Kate sighed before the two women nodded and walked towards the door, the sound of people talking downstairs getting louder as Kate's hand lingered over the handle. Reaching across, Lanie smiled as she took hold of Kate's hand and helped her open the door, the smile growing on the detectives face as they slipped out of the bedroom. Walking down the stairs, Kate smiled as Rick walked over and wrapped his arms around her, his lips pressing against hers quickly at the room quickly irrupted with applause, Kate smiling at the man who was staring at her.

"How did it go?" he asked, Kate smiling before she nodded and sighed, Rick slowly leading her towards her father who was sat waiting for her in the corner. "He's been worried about you" he whispered in her ear before nudging her towards her father who she quickly smiled at and wrapped her arms around him. Holding his daughter close, Jim sighed as he held her close as he pressed a kiss against her head, a tear running down her cheek as she continued to cling onto him, Jim immediately noticing the ring on her finger.

"You're wearing your mothers ring" he commented, Kate nodding as she looked at the ring, smiling to herself as she stared at it. "You and Rick are engaged" he commented, the smile growing on her face as she quickly nodded, Jim pressing a kiss against her forehead gently. "Congratulations" he smiled.

"I was going to tell you earlier but I didn't know how to. He just means so much to me and I was scared that when I started admitting it everything would turn out to be a dream rather than a massive mistake" she explained, Jim quickly shaking his head as he smiled at his daughter, glad that they'd decided for her to wear her mother's engagement ring, continuing the value the ring meant to her.

"You look so happy Katie, your mother would be so proud of you Katie. You look so happy" he whispered, Kate smiling as she stared at him. "Look go and enjoy your party, he keeps looking over at you" Jim smiled, immediately noticing the look in Rick's eyes every time he looked around at them, the smile growing on his face every time he looked at her. "Go on, anyway I want to have a chat with Martha" he smiled. "Seeing that our two children will be getting married like we've all been waiting for, we have things to discuss" he laughed, Kate biting into her lip as she slowly moved away and walked towards Rick.

"He's happy for us" she commented as he pulled her into his arms and held her close, the two of them smiling as they began to dance to the music. "They all seem to be happy for us Rick" she whispered, his arms tightening around her as they slowly moved along to the slow song, the two other couples in the room, Kate smiling to herself as she rested her head against his chest and shut her eyes. The world feeling even more perfect than ever before as she realised she was in Richard Castle's arm feeling safe while her friends and family surrounded her, making her feel the happiest she'd felt in a long time.

Creeping over to the two men later that evening when they were finally alone talking to each other, Lanie and Jenny in the corner discussing children and married life, she quickly bit her lip as the two detectives smiled at her, Kate sighing before she groaned and tried to relax.

"I'm sorry for everything" she announced, Ryan and Esposito quickly nodding before they sighed and laughed quickly. "I'm sorry for pulling a gun out on you Ryan and I'm sorry for upsetting Lanie and just shouting at you Esposito" she explained, desperately trying to think of what else to say. "And I'm sorry to the both of you for turning up hung over and sometimes drunk and for just being really bad" she explained, the two of them quickly shaking their heads.

"Beckett, we forgive you and we did try to hunt down Josh but Montgomery told us to get over it and he said he'd have our guns if we tried anything" Esposito explained as Ryan nodded in agreement, Kate smiling to herself as they stared at her. "So are we going to be getting our amazing detective back?" he asked.

"If the precinct wants me back, I'll be there" she smiled, the two men nodding quickly as they smiled at her, their wives quickly approaching with smiles on their faces as well.

XOXOXOXO

"You have to admit your face was hysterical when she threw up on your shoes, although the smell did remain a bit to long" Esposito laughed as they sat in the living room, everyone smiling at Montgomery who was rolling his eyes as everyone began to laugh, Kate's cheeks burning as Rick's arm tightened around her, keeping her protected like she needed. Looking down at the child in her arms, Lanie smiled before looking up and smiling at her husband, the two of them nodding quickly. "We better get going, we shouldn't have stayed this long in the first place" he explained, Kate and Rick both nodding as they stood up and said their goodbyes.

"Actually we better do the same" Ryan declared, Molly asleep in his arms as he stood up with Jenny and also whispered their goodbyes, slowly walking towards the door as well, smiles covering their faces as they disappeared from the apartment. Watching everyone slowly leave until they were alone, Martha and Alexis now both in their bedrooms, they smiled as they turned to look at each other, the two of them lying on the couch, their arms wrapped tightly around each other.

"Was it really that bad?" he asked, Kate shaking her head as she moved closer and kissed him. "No more ghosts though" he smiled.

"No more ghosts" she repeated, a laugh leaving both their lips quickly as they smiled at each other, her fingers slowly running down his cheek as she sighed, relaxing next to him. "Molly and Daniel are lovely" she smiled, Rick nodding in agreement as she smiled. "Do you want to have children with me one day Rick?" she asked quickly, desperately hoping that he'd say the one thing she wanted to hear.

"Oh Katherine, I want to have everything with you" he laughed, his lips moving against hers slowly as she allowed herself to give in to everything that she knew she could have. She had her life back but this time she had Rick with her for every part, not just the crime solving part. She was now Detective Kate Beckett again and she had a life again no matter how hard one man had tried to ruin it for her and finally there were no more ghosts in the shadows.

**I'm not completely sure on this ending but my mind was set on it ending like this. Please review because I'd love to hear from you, anyway thank you so much for all your reviews and we only have the epilogue left. **


	36. Epilogue

**Here it is the final chapter or the epilogue as I've been calling it. Pre warning weddings are not my area of expertise and I'm not the best at writing vows, so I'm extremely sorry if it isn't the best! Anyway, please review because I love hearing from you and I would love to hear what you heard about this as whole thing and not just as a final chapter. **

One Year Later 

Staring out at the sea, he smiled as he heard the familiar sound of chattering that was filling the air. Looking down at the smart outfit he was wearing that was practically a suit, just without the jacket and the tie, his navy shirt unbuttoned slightly, he sighed as the talking died down and the sound of music filled the air. Turning slowly, he felt his heart beat a little faster as Kate walked across the sand between the two rows of seats, her arm wrapped around her beaming fathers, the smile on her face small and sincere. She was dressed in a knee length white dress, her hair flowing in the wind as she continued to smile at the man who was stood in front of her, dressed casually but still looking smart. They'd decided to go simple and have their ceremony on the beach in front of his Hamptons house, only friends and family invited and none of the press informed, making the ceremony and small and intimate occasion. Reaching him, she smiled as her father moved away and took his seat, Rick holding onto Kate's hand as she turned and laughed.

"You look beautiful Kate" he whispered, her cheeks turning slightly pink as he smiled at her, bending down slightly to press a kiss against her forehead, holding her close as the man walked over to join them, the two of them staring at the man who was stood in front of them, smiling at the couple as he began to speak. Turning to look at her as they were told to, he smiled as he held onto Kate's hands, watching the small smile on her face.

"Rick you've made me smile and you've made me laugh every single day since I've met you. Ever since you came back into my life I can't believe how lucky I've been especially since you asked me to marry you and brought me back to the world of sanity. I love you and I can't wait to be your wife because I know married life with you will never be boring" she smiled, slipping the ring onto his finger as he stared at her and laughed, the registrar quickly announcing what he needed to, Rick taking the ring into his finger and smiling at Johanna's wedding ring.

"Katherine, Kate, before I met you I honestly thought I had everything I needed, money, a daughter who took up my time and any woman I could choose" he smiled, a laugh echoing from the people who were sat around them, Kate's eyes rolling quickly. "But when I met you, I found something that I needed, a found a need to be loved by one woman and a need to have someone who cared for me in the way that I needed" he explained, clutching onto her hand as she bit her lip. "I won't ever hurt you Kate and I always do what's best by you even if you don't see it at the time" he declared, slowly slipping her mother's ring onto her finger, Kate staring down at it as a tear ran down her cheek. Looking up slowly, she smiled as he continued to watch her, staring at how beautiful she was as her hair continued to flow in the wind.

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride" the man smiled, Rick quickly wrapping his arms around her and pressing his lips against hers softly, a laugh leaving her lips as everyone watching continued to smile. Running his fingers down her cheek, she beamed as he kept his arms around her hips.

"Hello Mrs Castle, you are changing your name to Castle aren't you Kate?" he asked, Kate slowly nodding as she bit into her lip from excitement, enjoying the sound of her new name from his lips, the excitement of finally being the woman she'd always wanted to be since she'd met him all those years ago. "Good Mrs Castle, I couldn't imagine you being anything else now" he smiled, her lips moving up to his again as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, a sigh leaving her lips.

XOOXXOXO

"Oh god save me, this never turns out well" Rick laughed as his mother slowly stood up, holding onto what must have been her fifth glass of champagne, Rick burying his head into his hands as Kate ran her hand across his back, comforting him as Martha smiled at the guests who were sitting around them.

"My son has finally gained some sense today" Martha smiled, Rick groaning as Kate laughed to herself, watching the older woman who smiling at them. "He finally married the woman we all believed he should have married at least three years ago" she laughed, everyone else laughing as the couple stared at each other, holding hands underneath the table. "Kate you've brought so much happiness not just into my sons life but into mine and Alexis'" she explained, Kate smiling as she watched Martha smile at the people who were watching them. "I know that these two will be extremely happy together and I can't wait to look after their children in the future" she laughed, Rick squeezing her hand quickly under the table as everyone began to clap. Sitting herself down Martha smiled as she smiled across at them, Alexis laughing as she sat beside her grandmother smiling at the newly married couple.

"Thank you for that Martha, it was a lovely speech" Kate commented, Rick smiling as he nodded towards his mother. "And anyway I might have to take your offer up soon" Kate smiled, holding onto Rick's hand a little tighter as the three Castle's stared at her. "For looking after children in the future, how does in eight months sound to you?" she smiled, Martha and Alexis cheering as Rick continued to stare at her, the rest of the wedding party staring at her quickly after noticing the loud noise irrupting from the table they were sat at.

"You're pregnant?" he asked quickly, Kate nodding as he laughed and stood up, holding up his glass of champagne as everyone stared at him. "I'm going to be a dad" he laughed, Kate sighing as everyone quickly clapped, smiling at her as Rick helped her up and kissed her, his hands running to her stomach as Rick sighed onto her lips. "God I love you Kate, you've made me the happiest man alive" he smiled, a tear running down Kate's cheek as he pressed a kiss against her forehead, her eyes shutting for a moment as he rested his forehead against hers, everyone watching them but remaining silent. "Is there really a baby in there?" he asked quickly as she laughed.

"Yes Rick, there really is a baby in there" she smiled, her eyes rolling as he held her close, her arms wrapping around his neck before they sighed. Getting to his knees quickly, he smiled as she watched him press his lips to her clothed stomach, not caring about how many people were surrounding them as she bit into her lip.

"Hey little one, you have no idea how excited I am about meeting you" he smiled, Kate rolling her eyes as she ran her hands through his hair. "You've made me and your mommy very happy" he admitted before standing up and kissing Kate. "Almost as much as mommy's made me happy" he whispered onto her lips as she sighed. Sitting down slowly, they stared out across the people who were looking at them, smiling as Kate stared at the writer beside her, her hand resting on her stomach as his joined her, the two of them staring down at where the life they'd created was growing, happiness filling their veins as they remembered everything of their past and now the new mystery of their future, this being one mystery that both of them didn't want to solve yet.

**The end.**

**I really hope you enjoyed it because I loved writing it and hearing from you. **


End file.
